Poisoned Love
by penelopethefox
Summary: Just one simple mistake can change everything. Amy commits to a horrible mistake in poisoning herself. That poisoning breaks all hell on loose, causing realisations, devastation and utter destruction to everyone. With Eggman holding Amy captive, Sally turning the tables and Sonic desperately trying to gain Amy back, and Shadow fighting for the one he loves, a SonAmyShad story.
1. Chapter 1

**Heyooo~ This is my first story! I'm so excited. I've had this in mind for YEARS. And now i can finally upload it! However, my submissions might be a bit slow because of internet, and school. So maybe once or twice a week I'll submit new chapters ^^''**

 **Some notes:**

 **Some characters, like Sally Acorn, are completely OOC. This is for entertainment purposes only**

 **And that's all! I hope you enjoy this SonAmyShad -v-**

It was a bright, warm summer's day in Station Square. Everyone was outside, having fun, shopping, swimming, nearly anything to just get outdoors. Everyone except this certain, pink hedgehog. Amy Rose was in her small, but cute home. Steps were leading to her front porch, where before that lays a small garden with plump, healthy green bushes. Inside, you'd automatically see a staircase leading up to various of rooms, on the right a spacy lounge room and the left a clean, white kitchen. Amy was comfortably perched on her rosy red couch, enjoyably reading a 'Sonic the Hedgehog Archie' comic. She was so emerged into the book, that the subtle knock on the door startled her.

"Coming!" she yelled, jumping up from her spot and placing the comic book against the plush cushion. As she opened the door, she saw a all too familiar blue hedgehog.

"Hiya Ames,"

With a squeal, she pounced on the hedgehog into a bear hug. "Sonikku!"

"Ugh, can't breathe!" The hedgehog gasped out, being crushed by Amy. She just giggled, let go, and then dragged him into her home.

"So, why are you here Sonikku?" she asked, hoping that he was here for a particular reason.

He sighed, and trudged behind her as she held his hand.

"I'm not staying here for long, Ames. I'm only here to tell you that I'm going away."

"What? Why?" Amy practically exclaimed. Was he leaving the city?

With another sigh he gently brought her down to the couch, accidentally bumping the famous comic to the ground. He didn't seem to notice.

"Something came up back at our childhood home, Knothole. Looks like Egghead has started up a muck. The Freedom Fighters have called us back to come to their aid, so me and Tails are heading off there soon."

Amy was dumbfounded, and a little hurt. Why didn't the Freedom Fighters asked her to come along and help fight? Wasn't she good enough?

"But... what about me? Wasn't I a Freedom Fighter?"

Sonic, the blue hedgehog, looked as though he had enough and was about ready to leave.

"I don't know Amy," he said while letting go of her hands and sped to the door. "Just stay here, okay? I won't be gone long, I promise." With a reassuring smile and a thumbs up, he sped out the door.

Amy just sat there on her couch, again. This time with an expression of pure sadness. She didn't even bother picking up the comic as she glumly picked herself up and made her way into the kitchen.

"Maybe I'll call Cream, maybe even Rouge to get my mind off things," she pondered to herself as she picked up the white home phone against the wall and dialed a number. It rang a few times before it was answered by her closest friend, Cream the Rabbit. Her sweet, gentle voice asked Amy what was wrong, and she smiled. Cream never missed a thing.

"I'm fine Cream. I just was wondering if maybe we could hang out?"

A pause.

"Sorry Amy, but mum said that I have to stay home and do some chores. But maybe tomorrow?"

"Yeah, okay. Thank you though."

"I'm sorry Amy..."

Amy hushed Cream a reassurance before hanging up. Not giving up hope, she dialed Rouge's number instead; another close friend.

"Hello?" Came a dreary, flirtatious and mature voice.

"Hey Rouge, it's Amy. I was wondering if we could go to the Mall?"

"I'm sorry Amy but I'm..." Rouge trailed off as she looked behind her, who laid sprawled on the couch a red echidna, smirking lustfully up at her. "Busy. Maybe next time?"

Amy hung her head low in disappointment and nodded, even though she knew Rouge couldn't see her. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye hun,"

Lazily placing the phone back on to the dial, Amy kept her head down low. Oh how bad this day was becoming... but she wouldn't let that be all day. Bringing her head back up and straightening herself up, she walked swiftly towards the door and went out. Time to go for a walk.

Most of Station Square is infrastructure, with companies and buildings and shops. But there is a particular spot in Station Square that is filled with green, trees, wildlife and even a small pond. Benches were spread across the small park, and children alike were playing and running around; a small girl bounding up towards her thrown ball. Amy smiled at the sight and closed her eyes, letting the wind blow through her long, beautiful quills. Felt her loose, long red dress glide across her long legs as she took in the nature. She inhaled, then exhaled. As she opened her jade green eyes, her sight laid upon something that was the last thing she wanted to see.

In the distance, she saw her handsome Sonic. And that Sonic was holding a female figure close to his body. This female was a chipmunk that had warm, autumn red hair with a blue vest and boots that went just bellow her knees. Sally Acorn. It wasn't Sally herself that disturbed Amy to no end, but what Sally was having with Sonic. they were both sharing a loving, gentle kiss.

With tears swarming her eyes, she stepped back shakily, not believing her eyes.

"No... no... he lied... he lied!" she stammered while twisting her body and making a run for it. "That bastard!"

Not too far away from Sonic and Sally, was Tails conversing with an old, but close friend. Bunnie Rabbot. They were laughing and walking to meet up with the two lovers.

"It's nice to see you again sugar," Bunnie happily said, with her southern accent. Tails merrily laughed.

"You too Bunnie," he responded before looking up to see a small pink figure running in distress. He had a feeling that he knew why. Turning to Bunnie he made a sheepish face. "Sorry Bunnie, but I think something has come up. I have to go." And before she could respond, he took off. First was running, before his twin tails circulated, and then he took off in flight.

 _Don't worry Amy,_ he thought. _I'm coming._

Deep in her kitchen, Amy was leaning over an open draw. Staring at the utensils provided. Her thoughts were clouded. Her brain fogged. She wasn't thinking straight. Not thinking at all. Her hand numbly found its way to the knife section, and glid its fingers over one of the knife's blades. She didn't know what she was doing. Didn't know that something had taken over her, that pain flooded through her veins.

 _No more hurt... no more hurt..._

Bringing the knife up and pointing it against her belly. _No more hurt..._

She brought the knife down.

"Amy!"

A loud 'ting' was heard as the knife was dropped, and Amy finally snapped out of her trance and spun around. "Tails!"

Tails stared at Amy in horror, realising that if he hadn't have come in time, Amy would...

He didn't want to know that.

Amy had burst into tears, and collapsed against Tails' warm, plush chest fur and sobbed; realising too the horror that would have happened.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." she continually whispered against him. Tails just simply held her, feeling slightly awkward but did it anyway for her sake.

"It's alright," he cooed, trying to calm her. "Just don't do it again, okay?" He lifted up her face, trying not to show how uncomfortable he was.

Amy wiped away her tears and pulled away slowly.

"Then what am I supposed to do Tails... I can't deal with this pain..." she trailed off, trying not to think about it and blocking the emotions that boiled up.

Tails thought for a bit, trying to conjure up a plan. He had to help her or else she'd do something dangerous to herself like before. Then a thought struck him, but he was so disgusted by it that his face gave way. Unfortunately, Amy saw it.

"What?" she asked in anticipation. "What is it?"

"Nothing," he answered too quickly, and Amy saw none of it.

"Tell me Tails, for my sake. Please?" she clung to his arms, almost begging. Gosh, she was clingy.

With a sigh, Tails gave in and gently pushed Amy off him.

"You could poison yourself to fall for another. I could help you if you wish if it made you happy."

Tails thought that it'd keep Amy off him, but he was wrong. With out being warned he was smothered by her.

"Oh thank you Tails, thank you!"

Tails tried to keep his composure, but failed and fell back with Amy landing on him.

"Oh I'm sorry!" Amy looked up at him with apologetic eyes. Tails blushed slightly from having a girl on him, and stuttered out a 'That's okay.'

Hours later, Amy had acquired all the things needed for the poison to work. Tails had informed Sonic that he had to run some eras first before making his way to Knothole. Amy was grossed out of what she had to collect: A dead man's heart, an extract of her blood and DNA of who she wanted to 'fall in love' with. Giving Tails the piece of pitch black fur, he added it to the mixture.

The substance bubbled and gurgled, the colours churning together to form a light green. Amy had to pinch her nose to stop her from feeling sick. After pouring the substance into a small tube, Tails reluctantly handed it towards Amy. Amy took it hesitantly and stared at it, as if it held her future. Which it did, in a way.

Looking at Tails in fear, he gave a nod to say that she'll be okay. Inhaling deeply, she took the vile and slowly took in its contents. Not too long after however, her world turned black as she collapsed onto the tiled floor.

Panicking, Tails bent down to Amy and held her. Scanning his eyes over her to see any sign of life, he saw none and began to breathe quicker.

"Amy?" his voice was shaky and uneven. "Amy, wake up. Amy?" He began to shake her, becoming more anxious by the minute. What has he done? Tears swelled at his eyes as he let out a sob. "Amy please..."

Suddenly, Amy's eyes shot open as she sat up straight. Tails was startled and gasped at her sudden movements. "A-Amy?"

Amy looked back at Tails in confusion. "Tails? What on earth are you doing in my kitchen?"

Tails was star-struck and stammered for words.

"I-I... Uh..."

With a giggle, Amy stood up and extended out an arm. Tails took it slowly and cautiously, composing himself and his posture.

"You're so cute Tails," she giggled, and headed towards the door. "Don't you have to go to Knothole with Sonic and the others? Knothole can't save itself, you know!" Amy beamed at Tails. Tails just looked at Amy and slowly walked past her.

"Uh... yeah. I just wanted to bid you goodbye is all." he lied, not sure about the whole situation. Had it worked?

"Aww, you're so sweet!" she said as she pinched his cheek. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"But, what about you Amy?" Tails asked, trying to ignore her pinch. "What are you going to do?"

"Going to see Shadow, duh. What else?" With another giggle she waved goodbye at Tails and took off in search for her 'love'.

Tails was overwhelmed and slumped against Amy's rocking chair on her porch. He took a minute to absorb the events that just happened. He just sat there in complete silence before everything hit down on him like a rock.

"What have I done..."

Meanwhile, a small floating ball had watched the whole situation through one of the lounge room windows. The electronic ball zoomed in on Amy as she drank the green liquid, and a red light flashed on its side. Through the eyes of the ball, watching every movement, was an overweight man relaxing in a floating chair, analysing everything. He twisted and turned his mustache, as an evil smirk slithered onto his features.

"Excellent."


	2. Chapter 2

**Note:**

 **DO NOT PANIC. I'm NOT making Sally a crazy villain out to get Amy and be outrageously OOC like some writers do. I was going to do that years ago when I was twelve years old and didn't know better, but I'm not now. No, I'm not going to make Sally like that. Instead, she's going to do things out of pain, not because she's an evil person. She will be a good hearted person (how she is) who's just choosing the wrong path. Just remember this is for entertainment purposes only.**

 **Also, I'd like to point out that Sonic has not lied to Amy, it was just a huge misunderstanding, and Amy just came at the wrong time. There was a Freedom Fighter mission.**

 **This story may eventually be rated M (no, no lemon heheh) because of graphic violence.**

 **With that out of the way, let's continue c; Thank you for the all the supportive reviews~**

Badnik's lay sprawled across the grassy plain, broken and shattered everywhere. Sounds of static and the choky smell of smoke filled the air, just a couple of kilometres away from Knothole. The Freedom Fighters were spread throughout the patch of land, observing the dysfunctional waste for any signs of life. Fortunately, none was found.

"Whew, that was easier than expected," Sonic exclaimed, stretching his arms. "Did you guys really need our help?"

Sally bent up from a piece of robotic leftovers, and frowned in confusion.

"It seemed as though from the start, but from the looks of it the battle wasn't as alarming as expected." She explained as her gentle hand found her mouth while staring at the mechanical mess in both wonder and frustration. Embarrassment lingered into her emotions but she quickly pushed it away and straightened up. "Well, help or no help it lead to yet another victory. Well done Freedom Fighters."

With that, the Freedom Fighters cheered in glee from their successful mission. Eventually everyone but Sally and Sonic moved into the forest that lead to their childhood home. Sonic gave his trademark smirk with his thumbs up.

"You never fail to surprise me Sal. I don't think I've ever seen one plan of yours fail," he complemented with a wink, expecting to see her bright, beautiful smile with a cheeky comment; but instead, her face was hidden behind her autumn red hair. His smirk faded as he took a step towards her. "Sal? You okay there?"

His gloved hand reached to touch her shoulder, but she turned away from him. Hurt and confused, he tried again.

"Hey, talk to me. What's wrong?"

Without looking up, Sally's quiet voice finally answered him.

"I think we should break up."

All the colour drained out of Sonic's face, and it took a couple of seconds for his mind to finally process the meaning behind her statement.

"What?"

"This relationship we have, it's not working out," Sally repeated whilst hugging herself, still not facing the hedgehog. "I'm so sorry Sonic but… this distance between us, it's… it's breaking me apart. I need to be near you, but you're just not there for me." Tears formed around her blue crystal eyes and she refused to show her weakness. "I might be a strong leader, but my heart isn't as strong as my mind and body."

Sonic wouldn't believe what he was hearing so he sped in front of Sally before she could turn away again and lifted her face, wiping away her tears slowly. He will not give up his princess that easily. With a gentle smile, he gave a chuckle.

"Don't be silly Sal, if you want me to move back here I will. There's no need to be dramatic like that, we already have enough of that." He assured her and tried to kiss her cheek before she pulled away again.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," she stated, mad at herself for allowing Sonic to get that close at a time like this. "I need to focus on Knothole, my father and my Freedom Fighters. I can't be distracted with love right now. Please, please try to understand." Sally begged as she grabbed his hands and squeezed them.

Sonic simply stared at her, searching for any signs on her face that would give away something that he could use. It didn't. He let out a deep sigh, playing the no emotion game, and let out an easy going smile.

"No problem Sally. Anything to make you happy and well." He assured her while squeezing her hands back before letting go and turning away to go for a run. He needed to think things through before breaking down in front of her. He hadn't gotten one step forward before he was pulled back again by Sally. He looked at her with hope that she had changed her mind, and a genuine smile crept upon his features.

"Are you sure that you're okay with this?" asked Sally with solemn eyes as she kept her hold.

Hope ruined.

Sonic got out of her grasp as gently as he could and lost his smile with a fake one.

"Hey, don't sweat," said Sonic and gave her another thumbs up before taking off.

Sally watched as Sonic left nothing but a blue blur that was heading to the opposite direction of Knothole, towards Robotropolis. Or the remains of it since Robotnik had left it long ago. Sally felt her knees buckle as she forgot to barricade her emotions before they surfaced, and she fell down while trembling. She dug her face into her hands until the mournful melody of her sobs blended into the fizzes and sparks of the broken machinery.

The next day was the day that Sonic and Tails were making their departure back to Station Square. Sally suggested that Bunnie and she would be traveling alongside them in case of anymore surprise attacks. Sonic argued that Tails and he could easily take them on, but Sally stood strong as always and got her way in the end. Everyone's gear and traveling requirements were packed and was ready to go. An hour later, Sonic, Tails, Sally and Bunnie begun their journey back.

Bunnie however, noticed that throughout the first hour or so Sally was trudging along slowly behind. Sally was Bunnie's closest and most valued friend she has ever had, and was always there for her when she went through her worst endeavours. She clenched and unclenched her robotic left arm, and remembered the day that she had lost her natural arm and second half of her body all too well. Sally and the rest of the Freedom Fighters gave her their love and support, and never would she have gotten to where she was now without them.

Back to the present, Bunnie had seen through Sally's fake parade ever since she got back from their fight. She also noticed how strangely Sally and Sonic behaved together from now on, and wondered that Sonic was the reason why her best friend was in the dirt. Purposefully slowing down her pace so the other two wouldn't notice, she slid beside Sally.

"Hey there Sally girl," she greeted with a smile.

Sally lifted her head up and smiled back at Bunnie, but Bunnie saw right through it.

"Hey Bunnie. What's up?" Sally replied.

"Oh, nothin' much. Just worried about one of our Freedom Fighters,"

Sally looked at Bunnie cautiously but continued onwards unfazed.

"Really? How come?" she asked as neutrally as she could. Bunnie acted ignorant and decided to go with the flow.

"Yeah. Ah mean, she used to be so resilient and vibrant, always moving onwards. But now ah think she's movin' behind a few steps,"

"How so?" asked Sally, showing no emotion, also acting ignorant.

"Because she can't seem to get her head around her heart,"

Not being able to take it anymore, Sally gave in, dropping her head down, making sure to keep up her pace so the one's up front wouldn't pick up anything.

"You see through everything, don't you Bunnie?" she said in a hushed voice, careful not to be heard by anyone else other than her female companion.

Bunnie smirked in triumph.

"Not from yah best friend yah ain't," said Bunnie with a nudge on Sally's arm. "Tell me Sally girl, what's been happenin' between ya and lil' 'ole Blue Boy over there?"

Sighing in defeat, Sally confessed on what she had done yesterday, and how much she regrets her ridiculous decision. Bunnie simply shook her head and 'tsked' her.

"I just don't know anymore," groaned Sally while hanging her head back in frustration. "I thought I knew what I was doing. But now…"

"Hey, it's alright," Bunnie interjected. "Everyone makes mistakes, even a leader. And by the sounds of it, Sonic seems as though he's ready to forgive ya. He dealt with that very well, and I'm sure he'll understand. He's a great guy."

Sally was half convinced, but her reasoning took over.

"Yes, but I'm a _leader_ , a _princess_ , I don't have time for love," she argued, hoping that would get Bunnie off her case. However, a very small part of her wished that Bunnie would convince her to take her love back.

"Sugah, yah'll gonna be worse off without him, trust me. Ah broken heart won't make things easier, it'll make things ah lot harder. You won't be thinkin' straight. Love is healthy, ya know," Bunnie swiftly argued back, and Sally was reluctantly relieved.

"I guess you're right, Bunnie," Sally finally gave in, again. She knew Bunnie was right, and she would take her advice like salt from a shaker. "Thank you so much. I'll talk to Sonic once we get there."

And with that, she gave Bunnie a tight, grateful hug. Bunnie gladly accepted it and returned the favour, careful not to crush Sally with her cybernetic strength.

Things were going to be alright.

Hours later, the small party of Mobians finally made their port in Station Square. Tails gladly granted his small workshop in Mystic Ruins for Sally and Bunnie to stay for the night, so they could refresh themselves for their trip back home the next day. Sonic, however, felt uncomfortable being in the same room or confined space as Sally and suggested that Tails and he should let them settle in. Taking the train back to Station Square, Sonic took his seat furthest away from earshot and Tails soon joined him.

"Uh… why are we taking the train, Sonic?" asked Tails, clearly confused and nearly surprised by Sonic's abnormal behaviour. "Why aren't you running there?"

Sonic almost flinched from hearing such questions and didn't bother hiding his emotions in contrast to Sally. He rubbed his gloved hands against his thighs and looked at Tails with his deep, emerald eyes.

"I just need to talk to you," he started, knowing that Tails wouldn't interrupt until he heard every detail. "Sally broke up with me."

A nerve struck Tails as he sat there nearly emotionless. A sickening memory floated into his mind which he has desperately avoided over time, and nearly shuddered in disgust with himself. How could he have possibly considered poisoning one of his friends? What's worse, how could he even remotely go along with it? All of a sudden he felt sick and automatically placed his hand on his slightly round stomach. If only Sonic's break up would have happened much earlier…

"Tails?" said a familiar voice which brought Tails back.

"Sorry," he apologised, composing himself once more. "Just feel a bit motion sick from the train. That's horrible, how come?"

Sonic let out a longing sigh and lowered his head as well as his ears.

"She wanted to focus on what's most important to her and she wasn't happy with the distance between us," explained Sonic, hoping that Tails took his side. But he didn't.

"Well, maybe you should respect that," Tails opinionated, a plan coming to his mind. "These things happen for a reason. Maybe, that reason was that she wasn't for you."

Sonic didn't like that one bit, and was about to argue but stopped himself. Tails was only trying to help, and he told him what he needed to hear, not what he wanted to hear. He was honest, and that was one of the reasons why he came to him. A sigh left his system and he gazed out the window. Sally and he have known each other since they were kids, and practically grew up side by side. They fought together, they laughed together, shared each other's sorrows and always had one another's back. Letting something like that go after everything he had experienced with her, it's hard. And definitely not easy.

He guessed he should get started then if it really was the thing to do.

"It was weird that they didn't ask for Amy to come help, wasn't it?" he asked, trying to change the subject. Weirdly, the pink hedgehog felt like the right thing to talk about. He hadn't known Amy as long as Sally, but she still was one of his childhood friends. As much as it annoyed him that she'd constantly be by his side and crushing him with her affection, he knew she was a dear friend that he could trust and certainly keep. He wouldn't mind having her clingy company at the moment.

Tails on the other hand felt himself about to fall and quickly picked himself back up before Sonic noticed. Yes, it was weird that Amy wasn't called for, but that was the least of his concerns about her. Was she alright? Had she changed? Could she be able to return to her normal self? All these raging thoughts and emotions caused Tails a headache and he too shifted his eyes out the window.

"Yeah," was his simple reply.

Returning to the small yet serene park in the centre of Station Square was Amy Rose herself. Except, she wasn't mourning over her heart break anymore, but swooning over the infamous Shadow the Hedgehog.

Shadow was not the social type, nor the romantic. In fact, he was often known as the dark hedgehog that suffers from memory loss and struggles in dealing with his emotions. He hadn't dreamt of being with Amy Rose, hadn't even dreamt of finding a lover. Hadn't even dreamt of growing attachments ever again. And yet here he was, sitting on a bench, watching his Rose trying to feed the ducks that swam in the small pond. He didn't know why Amy chose him over her darling Sonic, and honestly didn't care. He was… happy. This was all too foreign to him in a way that even the great Ultimate Life Form couldn't configure.

A very, slightly undisguisable, small smile appeared on his tanned muzzle as he saw Rose nearly fall into the pond. That would have been cute.

Shadow couldn't even remember clearly how Rose and he became an item. He remember something like her tackling him from behind, and him slightly being agitated by it. He had thought that she had mistaken him for that blue Faker, again, and went after him. Not too long after though, he realised that she actually knew who she was snuggling into and it felt as though she was doing it on purpose. Thinking it was just some kind of sick joke of course, he had pushed her away. A couple of days passed and she was with him how she was with the Faker, and he slowly came to terms with it.

He still didn't know about this… _love_ he was supposed to feel for her but he was managing.

Amy felt much happier than ever before. She often asked herself why she hadn't stopped chasing Sonic earlier; she would have been with Shadow a lot longer and the both of them would've been even closer. Well, at least she finally found out before she was too late, and the sooner the better. She was grateful for this wonderful discovery and had decided not to go running after Sonic again.

Although… she couldn't help but wonder about how she even came to this conclusion anyway. It was all too… sudden.

Wiping away small beads of sweat on her forehead, Amy stood up from feeding her last duck and looked over her shoulder to see Shadow staring at her. Giving him a bright small she mad up her mind. She didn't care how she came to this conclusion, she was finally happy with her life. She had found someone as equally unhappy as she was, someone who didn't deny her affections completely, and someone who fought for her, not against her. She found someone who gave her what she needed.

Amy found herself walking towards her love, and she sat beside him. She knew that Shadow wasn't very comfortable with this relationship thing, especially displaying its contents in public, so she just simply kept her distance. Which felt completely abnormal to her.

"Hey Shadow," she greeted happily, beaming up at him with shining jade eyes.

"You seem like you were having fun," was Shadow's simple reply, as he avoided those beautiful irises that made him feel strangely nervous. He both hated and liked what this girl made him feel.

"Yes, I did," Amy giggled. "I nearly went for a swim though."

A tiny smirk appeared on his muzzle as Shadow nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. I saw that little stumble you had,"

Amy pouted and crossed her arms.

"And yet you didn't come save me. What if I did fall in, would you come save me then or still sit here?"

"Still sit here,"

"Hmph! Jerk," Amy mumbled while pointing her nose in the air, annoyed.

Shadow's smirk grew, and he nearly chuckled. He took pleasure in teasing his Rose, he found it both adorable and fun. A sudden urge to kiss her cheek developed within him, and he was about to push it down as always until he saw the Faker with the Fox coming their way, and his trademark protective instincts slowly took over. For some reason, he didn't care about public affection anymore, and his arm snaked around Amy's torso, pulling her in. Amy gave him a shocked look of surprise but he ignored it, his senses on edge.

Sonic and Shadow never really got along, always rivals in everything. Evan when they're working together to save the world, it always ends in a race to get to the set destination first. Through Shadow's perspective, he didn't really see any other point of competing against Sonic other than proving his superiority. Now he finally found a suitable competition against the Faker, and he will not lose it. Waiting for Sonic's notice, he took his first move.

"Rose…" he whispered, facing her the first time since she sat down. He gently cupped her face, one of her vibrant pink quills through his fingers, and slowly began to lean in.

Amy was frozen in her tracks, her heart rapidly beating against her chest while her breath was caught in her throat. This was it, her first kiss. And it was from the person she least expected it from. Her muzzle heated up and she lowered her eye lids, oblivious to the watchful gaze of her previous love.

Shadow wasn't feeling any more confident, but the knowledge of his rival watching the scene kept him going, until his rough yet gentle lips place themselves on Amy's soft ones.

Sonic was walking through Station Square, looking for the sakura female herself. He couldn't shake away this stupid, annoying longing feeling towards her. He decided, for once in his entire life, to seek out Amy Rose himself. Never did once thought that he would be chasing after her. With his two-tailed companion walking alongside him, he made his way to the one place he knew she would be; Station Square Central Park. He almost felt giddy at the thought of seeing her, and he furiously shoved the feeling away. He just wanted to hang out with her, nothing more. This was all to just help him move on from Sally.

Gradually making his way to the park, he spotted a familiar pink head with luscious, long quills. A genuine smile appeared once more on Sonic's features, the feeling of it made him feel better already. Before taking a step however, Tails grabbed his arm.

"Sonic I don't think that you should see Amy right now," warned Tails, a look of uncertainty and slight regret on his face. Sonic gave him a look of disbelief, and Tails sighed while letting go. "Look who's with her."

Sonic quickly shifted his gaze towards the pink frame again, but this time he saw another figure. A figure that was holding onto Amy. A figure that was leaning towards Amy. A figure that was kissing Amy. A figure that was nobody else but Shadow the Hedgehog; his old rival.

Something stirred inside of Sonic. Something unnatural for someone such as him. Jealousy? No. Hurt? Disappointment? He once felt like this towards Sally many times, with so many guys trying to take her away from him. Geoffrey St. John, Monkey Kahn, even Shadow in Mobius Prime…

But never with Amy. This… this felt different. And he nearly fell over against the concrete. Arms had held onto him for support and he clung onto them desperately. When had he felt like this towards Amy?

"Easy, Sonic…" said Tails as he supported Sonic.

"Tails… What… What's happening?" Sonic stammered, out of breath and a bit light headed. "Why is Amy with Shadow?"

Sonic saw tears swell in Tails' eyes, and his face softened.

"I did it…" whispered Tails so quietly, that Sonic had to concentrate to hear it. "This is all my fault."

Sonic nearly forgot about the scene happening before him as he stared at Tails in bewilderment.

"What?" he asked.

"I poisoned Amy to fall for Shadow," Tails confessed, continuing with the soft whispering. "She was so heart broken by you Sonic, that she would do anything to relieve that pain. And that anything was poisoning herself." Tails didn't even get to finish his sentence clearly without breaking into tears.

Sonic just stood there, stunned. He didn't know what to think, didn't know what to believe. Everything was just all happening at once, and for the first time in his life, Sonic the Hedgehog couldn't keep up. Sonic snapped out of his shock quickly enough to comfort his grieving friend.

"Buddy, this is not your fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine." Sonic assured, holding Tails' shoulders.

Tails wouldn't take what felt like cold reassurance. He knew it was his fault, he knew he had done this to Amy. No one could ever change that, to him it was set into stone. And he will do anything to bring Amy back and tell her how sorry he was. How he was going to do that, however, was still in progress. But for now, he'll just have to pretend to accept Sonic's words.

"Thank you Sonic,"

Sonic gave Tails a half smile, still feeling a bit edgy and slightly put off about Tails, and turned his head just as Amy and Shadow broke apart. A new feeling of determination boiled within him, and subconsciously accepted Shadow's competition.

"Wait here Tails, I'll bring Amy back," And before Tails could stop him, he ran towards the new couple.

Shadow sensed this and smirked faintly. He had got the speedster riled up for a change, and it felt good. He calmly stood up and held out a hand for Amy to take.

"Sonic is here," he announced while Amy took his hand.

Amy blinked a few times and looked over his shoulder to see the cerulean hedgehog that once held her heart captive. A very faint recognising spark was felt inside her, as if something was trying to break through, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. The blue hero hadn't crossed her mind once after getting with Shadow, and it felt strange seeing him. Nether the less, she gave her childhood hero one of her bright smiles.

"Hello Sonikku," she greeted happily, and the once normal pet name felt numb on her lips. It seemed almost new to her.

Sonic on the other hand, wasn't feeling as calm and collected as Amy. He felt distressed, and looked at Amy longingly before hardening his gaze at Shadow.

"I never thought you were the one to swoon girls Shad," he said with a bit of a bite to his words. "When did this happen?"

Shadow gave an annoyed grunt while crossing his arms in a bored manner, seemingly unfazed by Sonic's words.

"Since when did you care?" he gruffly replied.

"Oh, I don't. Just curious," said Sonic while he tried to act casual, rubbing his nose and looking around. Shadow of course, saw through his façade.

"Whatever. It's none of your business, Faker,"

Amy piped in before an argument raised up between the two hedgehogs.

"Shadow's my boyfriend," exclaimed Amy as she clung onto Shadow's arm. "Isn't that great? That means I'm no longer chasing after you!" Amy gave another huge smile as she kept her happy gaze on Sonic, thinking that it would make him happy.

But of course, it didn't. Sonic's heart dropped to his stomach when he heard that, and felt hurt that she thought that her not chasing after him would make him happy. It would have made him happy once, but now his world had turned upside down.

Being tired of holding in his emotions, he finally broke down.

"No!" he shouted, eyes dashing back and forth between Shadow and her. "You can't Ames, Shad's not good for you, I am!" At this point, Sonic didn't even know what he was saying, and was just babbling craziness.

Amy was surprised at this sudden outburst, Sonic was the calm and collected one. But this shortly turned into anger and she poked Sonic's chest, hard.

"Since when did _you_ care Sonic?" she yelled at him angrily, eyes narrowing down. "You never wanted me. You never took the time to know me, or even took the time to get close to me. You didn't want anything to do with me!"

Sonic was taken back, and was slowly brought back to his senses.

"Ames, I…"

"No!" Amy interrupted, not wanting to hear it. "Just leave me alone. I don't anything to do with you."

Sonic took a step forward but Shadow gave him a warning glare.

"It'd be best to leave Rose and me alone," warned Shadow, loving that he has won this round. "Or else you'll have to deal with me."

Amy hid her face into Shadow's arm and refused to look at Sonic, letting Shadow take over.

Sonic was furious. Not with Amy, maybe not even with Shadow, but with himself. With one last glare at Shadow, he took off with Tails following his trail.

Amy dug her face deeper into Shadow's arm, slightly not caring that he wasn't comfortable with public affection. After all, he did kiss her. During the kiss, Amy felt a mixture of emotions. She loved it, desired to have it for so long, although it also felt unnatural, not right. She tried to tell herself that it was alright, that it was just her first kiss and that she'd get used to it eventually. Even that didn't feel right.

And then Sonic just had to act like that. What was his problem anyway? Apart of her loved that he wanted her, and she hated it. She was with Shadow now, and if Sonic just decided that he wanted her now then he was too late. She had waited for him her life, and when she moves on, he finally confesses?

Amy let out a quiet growl. It was Sonic's turn to wait and never receive.

Sonic told Tails that he just wanted to be by himself for a while, so Tails and he had split ways. Tails returned to his workshop to find that Bunnie was gone and Sally was relaxing on his old recliner. She gave him a smile when she saw him, but soon lost it when she saw his expression.

"Tails, what's wrong?" she asked in concern.

Tails didn't respond at first, then rushed towards Sally and collapsed into her lap. Sally gasped from his behaviour and was quick to hold him gently. Both Tails and Sally were considered family, since Sally had taken him in when he was only little, and since then Tails had grown up with Sally being his aunt. He had trusted her and Sonic with his life multiple of times.

After a few minutes, Tails had calmed down and brought himself to confess his horrible deed.

Sally was just as astounded as Sonic was, and automatically held Tails closer to her and her fingers removed some of his bangs from his eyes.

"It's alright Tails," she cooed, giving him a warm smile. "Don't worry, we'll get Amy back to normal. You were just trying to help."

Sally only meant well, but again it was just cold reassurance to Tails. He had committed a disgusting act that would haunt him forever. Now Sally knows his terrible secret, it wouldn't hurt to tell her about the scene that just happened.

This time, Sally grew more depressed about her and Sonic the more Tails talked. She supposed that Sonic didn't forgive her after all, and her confidence in talking to him slimmed down. Something dark brought itself into the light within her, and she was frightened by it. Never had she thought about acting out of jealousy. Unlike with Mina Mongoose or Fiona Fox, she wanted to do something evil to Amy and…

Sally stopped at there. Never would she hurt Amy. Out of terror, Sally chose to talk to Sonic. After all, maybe she'll make him feel better. Filled with a new sense of courage, she assured Tails one last time before going after her Sonic.

Sonic found himself on top of a small hill on a field surrounded by forest. He leaned his slim, muscular body on the frail, thin tree that lay atop of the hill. He exhaled softly as the cool, afternoon breeze ruffled his quills and blue fur. The sound of ruffling leaves and branches moving placed him in serenity and his body sank deeper against the tree. He loved this time of day.

"Hello sugah,"

Sonic jumped at the sound of Bunnie's voice and he whipped around to find her standing behind him. For a second, Sonic just stared at her beauty. The orange sun gleamed behind her, making her cybernetics shine. The wind softly blew her sunny hair, her turquoise eyes dark and alluring. Antione had better claim her quickly before any other guy does.

He gave her a smile and leaned against the tree again, crossing his arms.

"Hey Bunnie," he greeted back. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that, Blue Boy,"

He chuckled at her come back. It seemed as though everyone saw all his secrets.

"You gonna give a prep talk?" he asked, trying to be cocky.

"That depends on you," she replied. "Wanna talk about it?"

Sonic just slowly turned his head away, which made him look handsome with the dark blues behind him. Bunnie always thought he looked kind of cute.

"What, pray tell, would we be talking about?" Sonic quietly asked.

"Ah know Sally girl dumped ya,"

Somehow, that didn't hurt Sonic as much as it did. Seeing the lack of hurt in his eyes, Bunnie saw that he was troubled by something else.

"No, that's not. Is it?" she pushed.

Sonic hung his head and shook it.

"No," knowing that Bunnie wouldn't give up, he continued. "It's Amy."

"Ah knew it,"

"Huh?" Sonic shot his head up at her.

"Come on sugah, you might have dated other girls but yah'll always had a soft spot for Amy Rose," explained Bunnie in a matter-of-fact way.

Sonic didn't want to believe anything anymore.

"No, I don't think so. I don't have feelings for Amy,"

"Why not?"

That shut Sonic up. Yeah, why not? Just because he's been in love with Sally for the majority of his life, doesn't mean he couldn't love anyone else. That gave Sonic some rebellious thoughts. He was slightly giving into the idea of having feelings for the female hedgehog until he heard a twig snap. Bunnie looked backwards to see Sally slowly finding her way through the forest. She looked for an escape route and found none, so she decided to just hide. Saying a quick goodbye to Sonic, she made a run for it.

Sonic watched his ex-lover make her way up the hill, and saw the second specimen of beauty for the day. Sally's fiery hair practically glowed against the sun's rays, her blue vest flowing with the wind. Again, he didn't know what emotions he was feeling.

"Hey Sonic," she greeted with a small smile and shining eyes. Sonic stared in them for a while before replying.

"Hey Sal,"

"How are you feeling?"

"Enough of the small talk Sal, why are you here?" Sonic snapped back, not what he meant to do. Seeing the hurt in her eyes made him want to take everything back and start over.

"Sonic, I want to apologise," she started, hoping that Sonic would listen. "I made a horrible mistake, breaking up with you. I didn't know what I was doing, I was just confused and that I knew what I wanted. But I didn't want that." She gently took his firm hands and stared into his darkened emerald eyes. "I want you. I was… being stupid. I shouldn't have done that," she shook her head while saying the last part. "I want you."

Sonic was lost into her blue eyes. Oh, how he loved those eyes.

"I want you, too," he whispered, almost in a trance.

"Oh Sonic…" She couldn't finish. She jumped on him, giving him a passionate kiss.

Sonic happily returned the kiss with more passion, holding her face close and running his fingers through her hair. Sally dropped to her knees and brought Sonic down. Sonic continued to hold her face, and took a peek to see her beautiful face.

His eyes widened in horror.

It wasn't Sally that he was kissing. It was Amy.

Sonic pushed Sally away, causing her to fall back down on to the ground. Sonic just stared at Sally like she just murdered Tails in front of him.

Sally kept herself up with her hands and stayed on the ground. She looked back up Sonic with the look of utter pain and betrayal.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked, her strong and mature voice wavering slightly.

"I'm sorry… I, I can't Sal. I'm so sorry," Sonic repeatedly apologised with tears brimming his eyes, and he took off the second time that day. He hated himself for running away, he has never done that before.

Sally stayed on the cold grass, and sunk into her despair. The darkness before came back, and she fought back against it, but the memories of what Sonic had just done to her took over her vision, as her whole being was drowned by the darkness.

Bunnie stayed hidden underneath the thickness of the leaves of the forest trees. Her mind tried to grasp what just happened, and wanted to run to Sally's side. Instead, she watched as Sally slowly picked herself up and snuck back into the forest of where she came out from. Thinking that it's best to leave her be, Bunnie took after Sonic.

Sonic wasn't running for long until he hear an all too familiar scream. Amy. Really not in the mood in dealing with her at the moment, he forced himself towards her. He was still her hero, whether she liked it or not.

Bunnie wasn't too far behind, using her cybernetics she lengthened her limbs and was bouncing through the forest. Also hearing the frightening scream, she picked up her pace before it was too late.

Sonic caught up to the scene just seconds later and came face to face with his old nemesis Metal.

"Still capturing little girls there metal?" Sonic teased while ignoring the glare that Amy had given him. "Gee, why not get a hobby or somethin'?"

Not answering to Sonic's quirks, Metal tightened his hold on Amy and picked her up bridal style; starting up his engines and began to fly.

"Quick Amy, grab my hand!" Sonic yelled whilst jumped up and reaching out for her.

Amy gave Sonic a solemn look and watched his hand grow near to her. In constant conflict with herself, Amy couldn't deal with her emotions enough in time to grab onto his hand, so she moved her hand further into her lap and let Metal take her away.

Sonic eyes widened from what just happened before him, and didn't bother in landing himself. Pain struck his back as he landed, and his skull cracked against a root protruding from the ground.

Bunnie had caught up with him and she retracted her limbs to their normal length and she knelt down to Sonic, continuously asking if he was alright, what had happened.

But he couldn't hear her. Didn't feel anything other than the throbbing pain in his back and head. But that was nothing compared to the pain he felt about the event that just occurred.

Not even close.

Amy sat in the misty, cold cell right next to the computers that held files and files of evil, classified information. How long, she wondered, did the Freedom Fighters want to get their hands on those files. She also wondered how recognised she'd be if she obtained those files and revealed them to the Freedom Fighters. She scoffed at that, and hugged her legs in the corner of the cell. She didn't want anything to do with that life anymore, and Sonic. How her blood boiled of the thought of him. Stupid jerk.

Amy let out a deep sigh and rested her chin on her knees. She was happy with Shadow, couldn't be better in her opinion. She doesn't need Sonic anymore, she has a new hero. Yes, she liked that.

Sonic will just have to suck it up because he had his chance for sixteen years. He can't expect her to be trailing after him forever.

Footsteps interrupted her thoughts, and she let out a small growl. She was getting sick and tired of being captured, why couldn't Eggman find a new damsel in distress?

"My, my Amy. You have grown," the villainous man commented.

"I see you have, too," Amy retorted back, referring to his stomach.

Eggman let out an annoyed growl but kept his calm.

"You seem pretty calm,"

"Of course I am, Shadow will come and rescue me,"

Amy expected him to question as to why she said Shadow and not her trademark hero, but instead she received an antagonising laugh. This struck a nerve and she snapped.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing my dear," Eggman sneered. "It's just, do you really think its love you feel for Shadow?"

Amy eyed him suspiciously and wondered what he was up to.

"Yes. I think I'd know love when I feel it," she shot back, but her herself has been asking that very question for days.

Eggman swiftly strolled to his computer and typed in a password.

"That is probably what you think. However, it is not real love that you feel for the sorry excuse of a creation of science," he slurred and placed his heavy form on the computer chair, which let out a creak as he did so. "No, it was in fact poison that got you to grow some sort of attachment to him."

Amy had nearly burst into laughter that he was talking crazy.

"Oh wow Egghead, do you think I'm that stupid to believe that crap?" Amy scoffed.

"Don't believe me, do you?" he asked with a twist of his moustache. "Then let me show you and we'll see who's telling the truth." After that, he pressed on a few files which brought up a video feed of Amy's very own lounge room. It showed the footage of Sonic running in, then leaving Amy in a depressed state. After a few phone calls she left the room vacant. When she come back a few minutes later, the scene took place of her attempt of suicide. Tails came bursting through the door just in time and comforted her straight away. Then the video skipped some footage to Amy drinking some sort of potion, and it was like she was the happiest person alive, and bounded out the door.

The video stopped, and Amy laid there astonished. Everything she knew was a lie, everything she felt was fake. Her love for Sonic easily took over the love for Shadow, and she felt her body slump down the bars. Everything became clear again. She no longer felt anger towards Sonic, except she felt the most love that she's ever felt before. All she wanted now was for him to come crashing through that door, kick Eggman's ass and hold her in his arms; telling her that he loved her…

Oblivious to Amy's raging emotions and grief, Eggman smirked in triumph.

"Are sure about your love now?" he teased, taking in pleasure of Amy's suffering.

"Shut up," she snapped back as she reformed her ball. "Leave me alone."

"Oh, you _are_ alone," sneering at his dominance, the evil doer retrieved his stance from the chair and made his way to the exit.

"Don't hurt either of them…" Amy quietly begged.

"Oh, I'm afraid you already beat me to that,"

And with that, Eggman left Amy in her own pit of self-destruction.


	3. Chapter 3

It was midnight when Sally Acorn found herself back at Knothole. The trees caved in on her, the darkness of night making her an ominous figure. She crept over the bridge leading to Rotor Walrus' workshop; a Freedom Fighter whose sole purpose was to create combat and machinery weapons to match against Eggman's forces.

Sally scanned her hand against the verification pad, careful not to set any alarms off during the process. Cautiously opening the door, she slid inside unnoticed.

However, Sally couldn't slip undetected by a certain security configuration unless she had cut the power, yet even then a power supply backup would be initiated.

Nicole is more than just a security program. She has a mind of her own, an artificial intelligence behind code. Her intelligence beyond the average Mobian, and can hack into any technological mainframe. Her first body was a small handheld device that Sally used to carry around on missions or even just to keep by her side. Since technology has advanced through time, Nicole was able to transfer her consciousness into other devices, and then had control over that particular hardware. And that's not all.

Over the years, Nicole has grown more Mobian-like other than a monotone, emotionless computer. With the help of Sonic's quips and cockiness, she has gained a bit of sass and personality into her system. Sally helped her understand emotions and grow attachments, and soon she became a genuine, loved friend.

Nicole's sensors alarmed her of Sally's intrusion, and felt confused as to why she was up so late; more so that she's acting like she didn't belong.

She turned on the screens that surrounded her friend, which caused Sally to jump, making her seem more suspicious.

"Hello Princess," came her female robotic yet mature voice. Even though she knew Sally could hear her, words that reflected what she had said appeared on one of the screens. When she continued, so did the typed expressions. "May I ask, why are you up so late?"

Sally froze with a slightly panicked expression, but soon calmed herself down and thought for a way out of her suspicion.

"Sorry to have startled you Nicole," Sally started, her brain snatching up words like a bee collecting pollen. "I haven't been myself lately. You probably could tell from how entered just now." She explained while giving a nervous laugh.

Nicole was debating whether to believe her or not, and decided to just go along with it.

"Well there's no need to be sneaking about your very own base, princess," she said. "You know you could have just informed me of what's wrong. Would you like to talk about it?"

Sally nodded, knowing that even though Nicole is hardware, she could still be able to see her. Her legs began to creep forward towards the main screen, where the typed responses lay, as Sally planned her escape.

"Sonic and I broke up," she sobbed out, lowering her ears and acting out her emotions. "I-I'm not coping so well…"

Nicole instantly softened. Her main purpose from the start was to protect Sally and guide her through Julia's death; a precious royal maid that Sally had when she was a child. After Robotnik's takeover, Julia unfortunately had given up her life in assuring Sally's escape. Because of this, Nicole was sent back in time from her original home, Mobius Prime, to aid and mentor Sally. That purpose still stood today until Sally takes her rightful place as queen, and until then she will be sent back in time to accompany a young, mournful Sally again.

"I'm so sorry," Nicole sympathised. "Forgive my suspicions. But you know, you shouldn't be afraid to alert me first if you need someone to talk to."

"I know," hiccupped Sally, still keeping her fake, upset posture. Her foot accidently hit the power pack underneath the computer desk, and she quickly glanced downwards, knowing what she was about to do.

"Again, I have to apologise," said Nicole, oblivious to what Sally was planning. "I'm not the one you should come to for these particular problems. I do not function these emotions as accurately as Mobians do, but I will try my best. Have you spoken to Bunnie about this?" She inquired.

Sally no longer had the pitiful act as her face went blank.

"No," her voice was monotone, emotionless like her eyes that no longer shined. "I'm sorry,"

Before Nicole could respond, Sally dashed forward and ripped out the cords that stabilised the computers' configuration. Nicole was instantly cut off. Sally had to be quick though, Nicole wouldn't stay offline for long; she had approximately ten seconds before Nicole reboots herself.

Diving towards the two Star Posts that were three metres away, she turned them on as fast as she could.

Star Posts are mainly gate ways into the Zone of Silence; most commonly known as the Special Zone. However, it was once manipulated by a being who was not from this world, and who Sally was trying to connect with.

Finally setting the coordinates that she desired, the Star Posts created a glowing yellow portal. Without hesitating, the chipmunk jumped through just before Nicole rebooted.

Sally found herself in an open field that was dead. Patches of dirt were spread throughout the ground, with so little of the grass that was almost grey. In the distance, there was a rundown city, maybe a village that surrounded a grey and lifeless castle. Everything that she saw was dark and ominous, the houses were abandoned and most of them were half ruined, with rubble surrounding the caved in walls. Rocks and boulders were scattered, dead trees and bushes that were nothing but sticks in the ground crept up towards the castle. The castle wasn't any better either, with the cement walls cracked, with holes that hadn't quite made it through the crumbled wall yet. A ripped and faded flag that represented the Council of Acorn loosely hung against the dirt-filled pole. No wind dared to blow through this choking empire. It was such a colourless world.

Moebius. A dimension filled with utmost devastation. A dimension that specifically represented the opposite side of Mobius. The Moebians in it were the split image of the Mobians that originated in Mobius, and were basically an evil version of every single one of them. Everyone here were unhappy, miserable and forced to obey the rule of King Scourge the Hedgehog.

Scourge was the anti-version of Sonic, a split image of him. The only difference is his lime green fur, blue eyes, jet black and flamed jacket with his flashy red sunglasses. He was cruel and vile, wouldn't bat an eye if one of his own was injured or killed. The Suppression Squad, a duo of his own, absolutely hated his guts. Except of course, Rosy Rascal, who is the anti-version of Amy Rose, who is completely obsessed over him. Her, and Fiona Fox, who originally came from Mobius Prime, and chose to officially join Scourge and his world.

Scourge was in fact, who Sally was looking for.

Sally regretted everything as soon as she jumped through that portal. No, she regretted everything when she even decided to return to Knothole. She hated herself for what she had done to Nicole, to one of her dearest friends. To one of her Freedom Fighters. She wanted to go back to Knothole and start over, she couldn't believe herself.

It's incredible how pain can control a person like a puppeteer controlling a puppet. Sally was astounded by it, almost fascinated. She couldn't do this anymore though, she had to regain control of herself before she did something she'd regret.

The only thing standing in her way, was a person in fact. The wood brown hair with the trademark yellow bow both sat atop of a fiery fox's head. Her usual black, leathery wear fitted her thin body nicely, with her bare red belly revealed. Her out stretched arm pointed a pistol towards Sally's face as her icy eyes pierced down the nozzle.

"Well, well, isn't it the goody two shoes herself," Fiona Fox sneered as she kept the pistol aimed. "Pretty dull of you to just waltz in here, where's the rest of the goodies?"

Sally had no choice but to put her hands up in the air. She was stuck. This, apparently, is what she wanted.

"Don't worry, Fiona," Sally nearly barked, the hatred that she felt for the fox boiling up. "It's your lucky day. I surrender."

Fiona let out a scratchy laugh which made her sound like a smoker, and let the pistol waver a bit before straightening herself back up.

"Aren't you a bit more professional than that?" she teased. "Or do you think we're just dumb?"

"You're right. This isn't like me. You know I wouldn't just walk into an enemy's whole dimension by myself, would you? You know that's not me. Therefore, I surrender."

Fiona gave her formal leader a sceptical look, but didn't lower the pistol an inch.

"What's in it for you?" Fiona investigated. "Why does the princess surrender anyway?"

Again, Sally felt her actions being automatic.

"Revenge,"

Fiona let out a toothy smirk and gave a sultry chuckle.

"Finally grown up, huh?" she said while finally lowering the pistol. "The world ain't fair, is it sweetie? Like the time I stole your precious hero."

"Shut up and just take me to Scourge," Sally snapped. Although that didn't do her any good, as it caused Fiona hit her from the back of her head with the bottom of the pistol, and then swiftly twisted her arms behind her back. Sally gave out a painful yelp while Fiona shoved the pistol to her head.

"Whether you surrender or not, you have no charge here, _princess_ ," she whispered harshly in Sally's ear. "So I suppose you get used to our rules, or else you can say bye to that pretty face of yours."

The angry princess gave out a grunt as a reply before being roughly pushed by Fiona from behind.

About twenty minutes later, Sally found herself being thrown onto her knees in front of a throne that held the lime green king. She gave a death glare towards the queen-to-be and stood up to face her formal enemy.

"Scourge," she said.

Scourge gave an ugly grin, showing his sharp, yellow teeth. On top of his head was an iron crown to show his dominance.

"Look what the wind blew in," he said while not bothering to fix his lazy posture. "How does it feel to sink lower than low?"

"This is only a onetime thing, Scourge," Sally meekly replied. "This only for revenge and nothing else."

Scourge gave a salty chuckle.

"And you think you could just walk into my home, demand me to corporate to your little betrayal, and then what, expect me to oblige an offer of a life behind bars too?" He gave out another laugh. "No offense babe, but I think that's where you're gonna have to oblige a life behind bars. Right here in my dungeons, how 'bout that?"

Sally kept cool, and ignored Fiona's funny gestures.

"No, I don't think so,"

Scourge raised his eyebrow at her and his smile slightly faded, but he stopped Fiona from reaching for her pistol again.

"Is that so?"

"Yes," Sally encouraged. "Because if you corporate with me and be successful, I'll let you become king over all of Mobotropolis."

That declaration stunned Scourge as his eyes widened, which gave Fiona the advantage she needed to jump at Sally, grabbing her vest tightly while shoving the pistol to her temple.

"The hell are you thinking?" Fiona snarled, spit nearly flying from her mouth. "No way am I letting that happen. Is this the revenge huh? You gonna steal my king away because I stole yours?"

Before Fiona could continue Scourge pulled her off of Sally, then grabbed Sally himself.

"Oho babe, you sure this revenge will be worth your kingdom being transferred to me?" Scourge asked, while giving Sally a lustful smile. "That, plus you'd be willing to be married off to me?"

No. Sally didn't want that one bit. She was about to gag in front of Scourge from even the thought of it. He may have the qualities of Sonic, but he isn't Sonic. Never will he be.

But it was like she had no choice. The numbness that took her was taking her again, and the emotions she felt was gone.

"Yes,"

Scourge gave a deadly, wide smile as his greasy, gloved hand reached up to her hair and placed it behind her ear.

"I always knew you'd come around, babe," he slurred, making Sally shudder. "You always had a bit of bad in ya. Trust me, after me, you'll never want to go back to Blue again, now that's a promise."

Scourge let go of Sally, and ironically she felt warmer without his touch.

Fiona on the other hand, was about to tear the castle down. She charged at Scourge, ready to beat the hell out of him from what he just said. But before she could touch him, his hand shot out and grabbed hers, and he leaned down and whispered seductively into her ear.

"Chill," he whispered. "I've got a plan." While he said this, he slid a finger down her spine.

Fiona slumped slightly, quickly relieved that Scourge was lying to Sally, and that he would remain hers. As if he had a choice, anyway. Still, she gave Sally a warning glare, as if saying that Scourge was hers. At the same time, she felt confused as to why Sally was acting this way. It wasn't her at all, and that made her feel even more suspicious about the auburn chipmunk.

She decided to keep a watchful eye on her.

Sally on the other hand, wasn't paying attention to the two evil doers. She wasn't paying attention to anything. She had just set her future out for herself. To be a doomed queen, with Scourge as her king. Not Sonic, Scourge.

This was not what she wanted. All she wanted was help in accomplishing her revenge. And even that wasn't what she wanted anymore. Nothing was clear no more, and she just wanted to escape.

But she can't.

Sonic was impatiently walking back and forth in Tails' small lounge room, which was jogging for other people. He was too zoned out that he didn't see Knuckles the Echidna in front of him before they collided.

"Ouch, what the hell man?" The ruby coloured echidna exclaimed in annoyance while rubbing his arm. "You asked me to come over then you barge right into me?"

Sonic rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Stop being so dramatic as always, Knucklehead," Sonic said, almost as annoyed as Knuckles.

Knuckles just grunted and plopped down onto the couch.

"Why'd you ask me here anyway? It sounded pretty urgent for me to have gotten off my island and away from the Master Emerald,"

Knuckles was a guardian for the Master Emerald; the mother of all Chaos Emeralds. It's his main life goal and slightly obsession, and would even risk his life in protecting it from evil. Knuckles and Sonic first clashed together when they met, Knuckles thinking that Sonic was out to get the Emerald. Turns out, he was played for some fool by Robotnik, who tricked him into thinking Sonic was the bad guy. After the huge misunderstanding, Sonic helped Knuckles protect and return the Emerald in the end. Eventually, they both grew to be both good friends and rivals.

"Amy's in trouble," Sonic didn't bother in elaborating, knowing well enough that Knuckles wouldn't approve even if he did.

"What?" Knuckles yelled while showing his fist. "Is that it?"

Sonic's chest heaved as he sighed and continued to tap his foot impatiently. He seemed to be impatient for the late arrival of the guests that he invited, not of Knuckles' furious doubts. That guy can be so thick headed.

Knuckles grew more frustrated at Sonic ignoring him, and he hurled a cushion at his head.

"You got me off Angel Island and away from the Master Emerald which is now in stake of being stolen, over a girl you can't even stand?!" The red echidna bellowed, literate veins popping out just above his eye.

This snapped Sonic to his senses, and whipped his attention towards Knuckles, barely feeling the plush projectile that was directed at his head, which bounced a few feet away from him. His usual calm, bright emerald eyes were filled with disbelief and offense, and yet he knew what Knuckles said was true. He couldn't stand Amy. Every time she approached him, with glowing jade eyes and a beaming smile, he had given her a look of horror and dread, and soon sped off into oblivion.

It made him want to shrivel up like a prune and rot away into the earth's soil for all eternity. Oh, if only that were possible.

The cerulean hedgehog was about to retaliate before Bunnie made her appearance into the already too crowded living room. She raised her eyebrows at the two feuding males, and soon turned her head towards the opening of the front door. All three Mobians made their way to find Tails revealing Sonic's requested guests; all eight of them.

The living room couldn't withstand the extra amount of people, it was half filled with just two. Some were spilled into the dining room/kitchen, which were adjacent to the living room. Tails gave an embarrassed scratch of his head; his workshop was just mainly built for him alone, maybe with the addition of Sonic sometimes. Nearly all the main heroes were there: All of Team Dark minus the robotic companion Omega; All of Team Rose minus their leader Amy; Even Team Chaotix was missing a member which was also their leader, Vector the Crocodile. To make up of 2 of 3 vacant members, Blaze the Cat and Silver the Hedgehog had jumped dimensions to aid Sonic in his urgent cry of help. Blaze looked sceptical, knowing well enough that it would take a hell of a lot of evil doing to cause Sonic to ask for assistance. It almost surprised her.

The four teams, included Team Sonic, had been first assembled to fight against evil. Unlike the Freedom Fighters, each team consisted of three opponents. The leader (which is speed), the muscle and aerial support. However, Team Chaotix's leader was the muscle.

Team Sonic was the first original team and bunch of heroes that stood up against evil. Sonic of course, was the team's leader and immobility. When he first met Tails, they both instantly bonded and became inseparable friends. With his handy mutation of his twin-tails, Tails became both the brains and aerial support of the team. After the continuous grunts and disagreements shared between the hero and the guardian, they somehow became good… well… acquaintances and Knuckles' rock hard fists gave the team the muscle it needed.

Team Dark however, was the complete opposite. The team members where a bunch of Mobians that most likely needed rehab or some sort of remorseful intake, but were effective nether the less. Shadow was their powerful leader, the grouchy hedgehog actually in the process of redemption after most recently attempting to blow up the whole planet. The mixture of alien and Mobian blood and the death of a severe loved one aside, Shadow is currently working with the enforcements of G.U.N to repay for his past actions. The flight member is in fact Rouge the Bat, a flirtatious, successive thief and spy, was under the government's watch until she, as well, was to repay her debt of the criminal acts that she had committed to. And finally, the third member is a rogue robot escaped from Eggman's clutches. Omega-123 was furious with his master for locking him up in a confined room, and is now dead set on taking his revenge with every chance he got.

The most innocent team was Team Rose, with their leader being the wonderful Amy Rose, who was poisoned and captured not too long ago. Her best and faithful friend, Cream the Rabbit, happily gave her gift of flight from her long, floppy ears to the team. Her chao companion, Cheese, also was happy to accompany them. Amy and Cream came across Big the Cat and his companion frog Froggy, who had recently been disowned by his original birth place, _Pais Misterioso_ (most commonly known as the Mysterious Cat Country). Big's gentle and caring ways went against their foul, harsh punishments and so they discarded him, seeing him as a weak link to their nation. Now, he spends his days fishing and protecting the girls on their adventures.

The last team corresponds differently with the others. Team Chaotix is a detective agency, and will do anything as long as they get their pay in cash. Their leader Vector is not the brightest or the smartest, and is mostly obsessed with their income. He usually bickers in annoyance at their youngest member, Charmy Bee, who just laughs and flies away from Vector's grasp. The responsibility of this group lies within Espio the Chameleon, a stealthy ninja who is calm and collected. What an odd bunch, their characteristics so expanded and non-alike that it's usually questioned of their ability to work efficiently and effectively. And they do.

The last two is not of a team, but two close friends battling against time and dimensions to save their own homes. Blaze is a princess of her own dimension, a protector of Sol Emeralds and her world. She came across Silver in his own dimension, one that is 200 years from now. His world was ruined and ruled by Iblis, and with a sense of determination and naiveness, he and Blaze set out to change the future's fate.

But that's a different story.

Everyone stood there silently, with an occasional mumbling Knuckles, brooding Shadow and an uninterested Rouge. Every individual had their eyes on Sonic, most of their gazes patiently waiting.

Sonic noticed some missing members. He wasn't going to make a huge fuss over it, already seeing that Blaze, Silver and Bunnie could fill the missing spots easily. But that didn't stop him from prying information.

"Where's Omega?" he asked, unfazed by Shadow's looming glare. The memory of him kissing Amy was lodged in the back of his mind, but he shoved it away.

Shadow gave a grunt.

"None of your business, Faker," he snapped back, also having the fresh sensation of his lips against Amy's with the pleasure of having Sonic watch. He didn't bother hiding his pride.

Rouge gave a dramatic sigh at the two.

"He's on a special mission for G.U.N," she stated, confused as to why it was such a big deal. "Problem?"

"No." No one was convinced.

"I will inform you that Vector is currently doing extra work for more income," Espio informed before Sonic asked.

"Yeah!" Piped in Charmy, fists on his hips as he buzzed in the air. "We need it or else we'll be thrown out of our home!"

The look from Espio indicated to everyone that they're short on their bills. No surprise there.

This time, Bunnie interjected.

"It's alright, Sugah," She soothed Sonic. "Blaze and Silver can replace Vector and Omega, ah can easily replace Amy."

 _No one can replace Amy_ , was the instant thought that sprang into Sonic's consciousness, before he realised what his mind just conjured up and he forced to keep his face neutral. It didn't take long for everyone to catch up on the absent hedgehog. Shadow gave a wary look of suspicion towards his rival.

"Where's Rose?" Spoke his monotone voice. Sonic remained quiet, looking at anywhere but his friends. Shadow wasn't done, and he pointed an accused finger at Sonic's peach coloured chest. "What happened to her?"

The gloved hand that belonged to Sonic calmly removed Shadow's finger away from himself.

"Amy has been kidnapped by Eggman," he started, and before Shadow could lunge at him, he continued. "Usually we could find Eggman's headquarters as fast as I could run, but this time Tails can't find any trace of his existence. That is why we need your help. Amy is dear to all of us, so I would be confused if you just dropped out now."

The rage that filtered Shadow's piercing red eyes lingered for a split second before he jumped at Sonic, shoving his hand at his throat and banging him against the wall. The wall dinted in and cracked from Shadow's sheer strength, and debris crumbled and fell down Sonic's shoulders.

"What did you do to Rose?!" Shadow demanded fiercely, baring his fangs and curdling his face into a deadly sneer. Rouge tried to pry him off the poor speedster, but Shadow flicked her away as if she were nothing but a pesty fly. Sonic didn't even bother to fight back, remembering Amy's face of sadness and confusion, her solemn eyes as her hand pulled away from his offering of help. He was worthless now. And he knew it.

Shadow deserved to kiss her all he wanted.

"Nothing," came Sonic's weak, croaky reply. The debris clung to the back of his throat like sand paper. "I failed her."

Shadow growled and pressed himself more against Sonic, causing more crumbs of the broken wall to scatter down. "Of course you did! You never cared about her. All you did was run away, and all she did was give you care, love and support! You threw that into her face. You wanted her gone!"

"No I didn't! That's not true!"

"Then what is?" Shadow snarled, his breathing becoming heavy. "Did you gather all of us up because you felt bad? Because you know she deserves so much better?"

"No,"

"Then what is it?"

"Nothing,"

"Liar!"

"Nothing!"

"You're pathetic, you can't even deal with your own emotions. Tell me the real reason why you suddenly care,"

"Because I love her!"

Silence.

No one moved. Sonic went limp after that, shocked himself at what he said. Or confessed, which seemed like it. Cream had tears rolling down her cheeks as she clung to Big, hating to see violence and knowing that her friend was in danger. Rouge watched the scene in fascination, slightly annoyed at Shadow, but ever more entertained. Knuckles had slumped back down on the couch, realising now why Sonic had forced him off his island. He slightly understood.

Espio and Charmy weren't affected. Both of them barely knew any of these people, and were only content in doing it for the money.

Blaze eyes had narrowed since Sonic confessed his struggle. She was mad at first, feeling her fiery namesake tingle at her fingertips. But her features softened at his exclamation, and rethought her annoyance. Sonic had dropped everything to help her catch Eggman Nega and force him to return the Sol Emeralds in the past. At first they clashed, but even then he got out of his way to help her. He saved her countless of times, on many adventures and hardships.

She owed him.

It seemed like a millennium had passed before Shadow let go of his firm grasp on Sonic's neck, and let him drop to the floor like a ragdoll. His voice was a lot calmer than before, maybe even his normal tone.

"It's about time, Blue," he said. "I hope you've realised what you've lost, because I'm not giving it back. Her back."

He calmly strode to the door, swerving past the Mobians that were in the way, gawking at the scene. He didn't turn back as his last words rang the air into the thick silence.

"Cause and effect."

Amy didn't know how lung her butt had grown frozen against the cold, metal floor. She didn't even feel it, her head was that clouded with hoarding thoughts.

She had poisoned herself.

Why did she do that? Was she in that much pain, that she would really do something that horrible and inexplicable to herself? She didn't know. All she knew was that she missed her beloved Sonic. He always saved her. Always.

She glared at the dark, dust filled floor.

 _You had the chance to be back in his strong arms again_ , her annoying subconscious reminded her. _But you were too caught up in being righteous and full of yourself that you denied to give him the satisfaction_.

 _Shut up_ , she sneered back, well knowing that it was right. _I didn't know that I bloody poisoned myself to fall in love with_ –gag- _Shadow then. So you shut the hell up and be quiet!_

And it did.

There was nothing wrong with Shadow. Amy had always sympathised with him, whether he was being an ass or not. She didn't judge him, got mad at him yes, but never judged him. She just didn't know that she'd ever _fall in love with him_.

Which she never did.

Guilt trickled into her veins. She had used someone for her own personal gain. Had manipulated them. What would she say to him when she was saved? _If_ she was saved? Would he get mad, try to hurt her? She didn't even think that possible. Shadow wasn't like that. Unless it was Sonic… then probably, yeah. But he'd be so, heartbroken. He'd already been through so much, and to think that he had finally found a way out of his suffering…

Amy gulped. She was such, a horrible person. She'd never forgive herself. She deserved to rot in this cell forever. She deserved to be single and die alone. Never would she want to be cared for, again.

Stupid emotions. Why'd they have to exist?

The door opened, and she pretended to be dead so he would just chuck her out like the trash she was.

Yeah, right.

She heard the cage door rattle open, and she didn't have to look up to know who it was. She felt hesitation, and she was about to scream at him to hurry up and do what he was there to do. Or say.

Quick, in a flash with speed she didn't even knew existed for the insane doctor, and her screams could be heard miles away.

Everything had changed.


	4. Chapter 4

Tails hooked his arms underneath Sonic's and hoisted him up into a comfortable position.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern, checking for collateral damage. Sonic simply nodded and looked up to see eight pairs of eyes fixed on him. He cautiously wiped away blood from his lips and straightened, ignoring the dull throb in his head. He could sense the curiosity and amusement that lingered off their expressions, but he will have to worry about Shadow and his newly announced confession later. Right now, Amy needs to be saved.

"I'm fine," he muttered stonely. An unfamiliar coldness swept over him, and he welcomed it. If he was going to save Amy, personal feelings and emotions had to be pushed back for the time being. His expression became stoic, and what he said next made the room freeze. "And we're going to save Amy, dead or alive."

"So, where to now princess?"

The trio of Moebians have been traveling in the strangled wilderness for hours, and the lime hedgehog was growing restless from every passing second that goes by. Sally remained calm and passive, responding one-word answers to every question that arose. Scourge either didn't notice or care about Sally's new cold self, but Fiona constantly made sure to add a snide comment here and there, just to try and spark a hint of emotion through the mask. Sally's patience was indeed growing thin, but she took whatever jab Fiona sent her way without breaking.

"We're going to lie low until we find an opportunity to attack," was her monotone reply. Scourge snorted in response.

"That all? Jeez, if I knew we were gonna be sitting ducks this whole time I might have reconsidered this little deal of yours."

Sally stopped and swiftly turned around with an expression that would make even Eggman and his whole army step back. Scourge raised his eyebrow while Fiona reached down to grab her pistol. Sally nearly smirked at this.

"If you have a problem with this, then please by all means go back to your feral world. I only called onto you for assistance, I could easily go to someone else or even accomplish my revenge myself. Other than that, I suggest you follow my lead if you want to succeed in being my king."

Scourge put a hand on Fiona's, stopping her from placing a bullet through Sally's head. He then stepped forward and backhanded Sally into a tree. A thump was heard as her side made contact against the wood, and Sally slumped to the ground. Scourge place his boot on the back of her head and kicked down. Her beant down and grabbed her rosy hair to pull her ear to his mouth as he whispered: "Like I said before, princess, you are in no position to order _me_ around. I _will_ be your king, and I'll do things _my_ way. Is that understood?"

He gave another pull at her hair which envoked a whimpered 'yes'. Satisfied, he got up and began to stalk forward once again. Sally didn't need to see Fiona to see the sneer on her face, and as she walked passed she felt a water drop on her hand. Soon did she realise that it was spit.

She wiped away the saliva and the nearly formed blood from her wound, and got up without struggle. One day, they will pay. Yes… they will all pay. She clenched her fists as the emptiness filled her once more.

Her anger won't be sated after Amy. No… she won't be happy again until _everybody_ paid.

That, she will make sure of.

"Team Rose, Bunnie will replace Amy. She is your new leader, so listen to whatever orders she will give out. You will search the outskirts of Station Square," Sonic ordered Cream and Big. Big surprisingly nodded in understanding, considering he was a bit short of a few blocks, and knew that one of his closest friends were at stake.

Sonic turned to Tails, who straightened and perked his ears up; ready to obey.

"Tails, you will do everything you can to obtain the whereabouts of Amy. You will search every Eggman base that we know of, understood?"

Tails nodded, relieved that his doing at least something to repay for his horrible mistake. He'll do anything to ensure Amy's safety. Cream sniffled and trotted towards him, hands to her chest. Her chocolate eyes were filled with anguish and longing, which made Tails have the urge to pull her in close in comfort.

"Please, please Tails find Amy, find her and bring her home," she sobbed in her young voice, and for some reason it made his cheeks heat up. Without thinking, his hand found its way to her shoulder, bringing his eyes to meet her own.

"I will, Cream."

"Alright Sugah," Bunnie interrupted, taking Cream away from Tails. "It's time to go."

Cream nodded. "Yes, Miss Rabbot." She said before giving Tails a sad smile and following Bunnie with Big on her tail. Butterflies swirled around in Tails' stomach, and he mentally kept his promise despite his own doubts of finding Amy.

Sonic's gaze softened from watching a possible romance blossoming between the two youngsters, but only for a millisecond before he turned businesslike again. He turned to the Chaotix, and pointed at Espio. "You and Charmy will investigate all of Eggman's doings in the past, find loopholes, anything thst will hint his current location." He nearly choked on what he said next. "Also, check Amy's house for wiretaps, any technology of sorts referring to Egghead. I'll give you the destination of where Amy was abducted and I want you to find all the traces you can leading up to that."

Espio intertwined his fingers together and bowed in respect, right before Charmy gave a bellow that sounded as if he were about to go to war.

"Alright!"

Sonic winced but didn't respond to the adolescent, and turned to Blaze.

"You will accompany them." Thinking he was being too much of a stony ass, he added "Please."

Blaze gave a faint smile, knowing Sonic all too well for him not to be shut off from everyone forever. She silently trailed after the detectives and left.

"Uh, excuse me Sonic, but what can I do?" Silver queried, looking at Sonic expectantly. Sonic nodded at a bored looking Rouge, who was leaning against the wall.

"Since you, Rouge and Knuckles all have the ability to fly, all of you will be searching the city skyward. I want you to search for anything abnormal or that sticks out." He shifted his gaze on Knuckles and narrowed his eyes. "And no checking on the Master Emerald, Knuckles."

"What? You think I'll do that with-" he gestured to the albino bat who was giving him a sultry look, "-her on my back?"

"Oh, like you couldn't get off mine,"

Silver held in a groan, knowing that he was going to be the biggest third wheel of all time. That, and having to listen to these two bicker and flirt towards each other. He was not looking forward to that.

"I honestly don't care what you do, just do the job, will ya?" Sonic said while shooing the two love birds, and Silver, out the door.

Sonic tried not to hope, but he had to believe in something or else he was going to lose his mind.

Hours later, Tails found himself by himself in his workshop. Never once did he rest, determined to find his lost pink friend. Besides Sally of course, Amy was like a sister to him. Despite her near obsession of his best friend, she was kind to him and always willing to help him out. For he millionth time, tears swelled up and threatened to break free. And like every other millionth time, he held them in. Not once has he broken down, not after his emotional session with Sally after he confessed, and he swore to himself he won't until Amy was with them once more.

He picked up the small, petite cube in his hands and stuck a screwdriver in the side of it. Just one more tweek and… done. A faint clink was heard before a small flash of red light. A smile appeared on his muzzle. It was complete, not like it was difficult to configure anyway.

A knock startled him from his pride. Confused, he subconsciously held onto the small cube device and found his way to the front door. Opening it, his heart leaped out from his mouth.

Amy Rose stood at his front doorstep, hammer to the ready.

Not being able to move, Tails caught himself staring in disbelief before a Piko Piko Hammer smashed against his face. Tails flew backwards and hit the same damaged wall Sonic was flown into ealier. The already cracked plaster shattered and fell ontop of the dazed fox, only leaving a wooden wall behind. Tails stumbled to get back up, his ears ringing. He panicked when he saw two Amys approaching him for another hit. He rolled to the side just in time before her hammer came down and bounded against the floor. His vision cleared and Amy and her doppleganger merged back into one.

"Amy, what's wrong? Why are you doing this?" Came his startled cry whilst she stalked towards him. Then, it hit Tails as he looked up to see red irises staring back stonily. Blood red. Not jade.

This wasn't Amy Rose.

He clenched his hand as he crawled backwards away, until he realised that the chip was scattered across the floor from when he took the first hit. Dread and sheer hopelessness fell onto him like a sickness, watching Amy lift up her hammer.

The hammer came down, the tilt of the yellow edge becoming bigger and bigger until…

Sonic came through with lightning speed, crashing into his attacker. They both fell onto the floor, Sonic swiftly pinning Amy down.

"Tails!"

It wasn't long before he snapped out of his shock. Tails shakily got back to his feet and dive towards the small device. Latching onto it, he swiftly spun around and clipped it onto Amy's dress.

"Let her go!" He shouted at Sonic.

"What?" Sonic grunted back, struggling against a bucking Amy.

"Just trust me!"

There was a moment of hesitation on Sonic's part, before Amy saw the opportunity and stroked her fist up to meet Sonic's jaw. Sonic gave a strangled cry and fell to the side. With one quick move, Amy got up from the floor, grabbed her hammer, and escaped.

Furious, Sonic stood up to confront Tails.

"What the hell was that Tails?"

Tails didn't answer, just sidestepped Sonic and wove his way down the hall.

"Tails? Tails!" Sonic barked in frustration and rushed to keep up. "That wasn't really Amy, was it?"

When he didn't reply, his patience snapped. "God, will you quit it?"

Tails jumped onto his computer chair and started to furiously type on his keyboard. Sonic was confused at first, but his eyes widened when a map popped up onto the computer screen, showing a red, blinking dot making its way down a path opposite to where they were.

"Is that…"

"That device I had placed onto her," Tails interrupted, slowly swiveling his chair around to meet Sonic's face of disbelief, "was a tracker."


	5. Chapter 5

He was in the shadows when he saw her leave. Icy eyes narrowed down as he examined her every movement, gesture, body language. He didn't remember much of the pink Freedom Fighter, only that she was unbearably perky and blindly in love with Blue. But one thing was certain.

This wasn't the same girl.

"Hey, you sure this is her?" He murmured under his breath. "I mean, obviously. But she ain't acting like any girl I know." His eyes skimmed up and down her body, and a sly smirk came across his face. "But I think she'll have to do."

When he faced the auburn princess however, his smirk lessened.

"Uh, princess?"

At first, she didn't respond; only evaluated the figure growing smaller as it descended into the trees.

"You're right, it doesn't seem like her," Sally agreed. Why was she walking _away_ from Sonic? Suspicion bubbled to the surface, and Sally bit back the urge to hunt down the hedgehog and be done with it. Logically speaking, Amy must have checked up at Tails' workshop in search of the cerulean speedster, and found that he wasn't there. It was a reasonable explanation, and yet… it still didn't feel right. Watching Amy… watching the girl who she'd known for countless of years, grown used to her personal habits, in contrast to this robotlike, simple minded girl… this was not her.

The suspicion and, quite honesty, the curiosity drove Sally to make her decision.

"We should follow her," she started, and before Scourge could question her or Fiona to argue just because of the sake of it, she continued, "we all know this whole thing has a freaky vibe to it, and Amy doesn't look quite like herself. Besides, if we follow her and catch her on her own, we could take her out without any disturbances."

"Really?" Fiona counteracted. Sally held down the urge to slap her across the face. Couldn't she learn to bite her tongue for once? "Is that all you can come up with?"

Before Sally could do anything that would end with another beating from Scourge, the said male stepped up and held up a warning hand.

"Princess' right, babe," Shock struck Sally from Scourge's compliance, though she didn't show it. "I don't particularly feel like dealing with Blue right now, I'll save my gloating for when I become king." While he said this, his rough arm slid around Sally and brought her close. At first, Sally's first instinct was to kick her foot right over his head, but the harsh reminder of her deal drowned her in sorrow. Not even his foul breath could have woken her. "And then, I'll crush that idiot underneath my shoe. How about that, babe?"

The look that Fiona was giving her screamed murder, but she too kept in check in front of the Moebian, and soon Mobian, king. Scourge saw this as well, and gave a chalky chuckle. In Sally's delight and relief, he pulled away and pursued the fiery fox, lifting a finger to her creamy cheek.

"Chill, babe. Haven't you heard of concubines before?" He gave another salty laugh and sauntered forward to where Amy had disappeared to.

Both females stared each other down after Scourge's departure. Neither of them moved, still figures in the mist of the forest. Two sets of frosty blue eyes glowered, daring the other to make the first step. The air felt like a constant weight on their shoulders, making it just bearable to breathe. Sally wondered if she'd be able to disarm her somehow, take the pistol away and get rid of the annoying pest for once and for all. Never has she once killed someone, only did enough to knock them unconscious.

But a lot has changed, hasn't it?

Luckily for Fiona, she let out a sneer and stepped back.

"Watch your step, princess," she warned, pointing an accused finger towards her. "Scourge won't always be around to protect you."

Sally held back a snort. _You really think I'm under the protection of Scourge?_ She thought snidely. _He only agreed to this to be king. And then, I believe, you will be the one in danger for you'll have a very pissed-off queen hunting down 'concubines'._

Oblivious to Sally's murderous threats, Fiona stalked after the lime king. Waiting for a short while afterwards, Sally made her way after them.

 _Actually, I might even be able to get away with a few things while being queen._

"Miss Rabbot, do you ever think we'll be able to find Amy?" Cream inquired whilst scanning the outskirts of Station Square for said female. Big swayed beside her, also searching.

Bunnie gave her small niece a reassuring smile, despite having the same doubts herself.

"Of course, darlin'," she assured. "We all know that Amy is quite capable of looking after herself, trust me ah know. She'll be fine, as always."

Cream still had her worries, but smiled anyways and hugged her pet chao to her chest. He gave a happy ' _chao!_ ' and cuddled close.

"You're right," she said. "Amy wouldn't let anything happen to her, she's too strong for that."

Bunnie smiled back, a fake gesture. "Let's keep lookin',"

And after that, they continued onward on their search, knowing all too well that they were clinging onto empty hope.

"Just what I thought," murmured Espio as his hand scrapped against the dirt, scrutinising the ground.

"What Espio, what?" Bounded Charmy, hovering over Espio like a bad smell. Of course, Espio kept his cool.

"There are no more prints beyond this point," he gestured towards a particular area near the forest edge. "Obviously, Amy had fought against Metal over there," Another spot, "and there's where Sonic and Bunnie came through. The tracks earlier that I pointed out was where Metal took flight with Amy, explaining the abrupt stop in the prints. Here is where Sonic most likely had a fall when he failed to retrieve Amy."

"Whoa Espio, you've figured it all out! Does that mean we get to go home now?"

"So you're saying that there's nothing here for us to track down?" Blaze intercepted, her patience thinning down with the ecstatic bee. Marine was enough. She wondered if she'd have to deal with any more pesty children; even though she'd grow attached to them over time. Especially how she did with Cream.

Charmy though… it'd take much more time.

Espio nodded silently. "Our next destination will most likely be Miss Rose's house."

Blaze looked off to the side. She didn't know Amy well, and from the looks of it the Chaotix didn't either. But she meant a lot to Sonic, and that was all it needed for her to willingly help.

Even though it always occurred to her in the past that Sonic was desperately avoiding the hedgehog.

"Very well,"

Half an hour later, the inspecting trio found their way to Amy Rose's residence. At first, they were brought to the possibility of the house being locked, but luckily the door was unlocked from Amy's blinded trust.

"Are we bad guys now since we broke into the pink hedgehog's house?" Charmy asked with too much enthusiasm.

"Technically, yes. But we're not." Espio calmly responded, then instantly went into the bathroom where he found a broken vile. Examining the shard, he saw green goo now dried against the sides. "This must be the poison Tails was talking about." He recalled to himself, but was overheard by Blaze.

"Poison?"

"Yes. Apparently Tails aided Amy to poison herself to fall for Shadow the Hedgehog in the attempt to escape from Sonic."

Blaze bit down a disgusted snort, and kept her face neutral. Why on earth would someone do that to their friend?

"So what now?"

Espio got up after examining the vile some more, then made his way to the loungeroom.

"We retrace everything,"

Silver was in complete and in utter agony. This whole-time Rouge and Knuckles did nothing but either flirt or bicker. He was getting rather tired of it, and regretted ever joining them.

 _Like it was my choice anyway. Sonic will know about this._

"Can you get off my back about the Master Emerald?" Knuckles snapped, shaking his spiked fist at the flirtatious bat.

Rouge gave a sultry chuckle and stared at him with her half-lidded gaze. "Oh like you couldn't get off mine last night."

Silver couldn't hear Knuckles angered, bashful reply over his gagging. In a desperate attempt to escape from the two, he floated towards the more vegetational part of Station Square.

They've been searching for any conspicuous activity, and nothing came up. He was about to give up before movement caught his eye, and he floated down; dimming his turquoise aura.

"Is that… oh my, princess Sally!" He squeaked, snatching the memory of the chipmunk from his brain. So many people he's met over the years in searching for a near impossible cure for his doomed future, it was so hard to keep track of them all. In fact, he was trying to deconstruct the other two beings in front of Sally.

"Umm… Stan? No… Stripes? S, S…" His brain racked itself to pieces for the name. At last, it came to him.

"Aha! Scourge!"

Silver realized his mistake before the peppermint villain whipped his head around along with the other two in unison. The colour drained from his face when he saw the sharp suspicion, and probably also because of the sudden appearance of the pistol in the hands of the red one.

"Uh oh…"

A shot rang out, and Silver snapped out of his embarrassment to fly out of range.

 _Crap! I'm such an_ idiot!

He didn't hear any more fired shots, but he knew that they were pursuing him. He would've felt pride in himself for finding something so useful, if he hadn't messed up. Again.

What bothered him most however, was one thing:

Why was Sally with them?

It was the end of the day, and everyone was returning to the workshop in disappointment of the day's results. Nothing had come up, and everyone was expecting Sonic to be very upset.

What they received instead was the complete opposite.

"Do not worry," Sonic assured, a confident look on his face. "We know the location of Amy's whereabouts."

"What?" said everyone in unison, clearly shocked.

"That's incredible!" Exclaimed Charmy. "Now we don't have to look like such failures anymore!"

"Yes," continued Sonic, ignoring Charmy. "Amy seems to have been manipulated into obeying Eggman, and doing so unknowingly. Tails managed to place a tracking device onto her so that's how we were able to find Eggman's new airship."

Everyone took a few minutes to digest what was spoken. What felt like ten years had passed, Blaze was the first to speak.

"So what's the plan?"

"The plan is," everyone swiveled around to nearly arrived lone figure leaning against the doorframe. "Is that we destroy that airship and rescue Rose."

A bundle of emotions swirled inside Sonic at the sight of Shadow, and his face hardened. His neck still ached from their last encounter, and the reminder of his possible loss to the dark hedgehog made his gut twist. The reasonable side of him agreed whole-heartily, which he hated and despised.

Truth hurts, he supposed.

"You know Shads, we can't just barge in there. We need a strategy."

A cold smirk was plastered onto the Ultimate Lifeform's muzzle.

"That's odd, coming from you Faker," Shadow remarked.

Sonic's smile challenged the frosty smirk. "I haven't been myself lately, thanks for noticing."

The temperature felt as though it dropped a few degrees; everyone laid completely still. Even Charmy held his tongue. The two rivals stared each other down, daring one another to make the first move. Sonic's smile widened.

"It's a race, then?" His cocky yet dangerous voice managed to echo throughout the clustered room.

"Shouldn't be a race if the prize has already been won,"

Before a fight could break out, Silver quickly intercepted.

"Sonic!" Both the cold stares from the male hedgehogs and everyone else's gazes shifted to the telepathic albino. Silver felt sweat drip down his head. "I uh… saw princess Sally with Scourge and a red fox."

This instantly difused the tension, and Sonic's expression changed from dangerous, to horrified, then to suspicious.

"Sally? With Scourge and Fiona?" The suspicion and hint of disbelief in the tone of his voice made Silver shrink back. Blaze saw this, and pressed him forward once more to encourage him. He gave a mental note of thanks.

"Yes, and I'm sure of it. In fact, it looked like she was more corporating with them than being a captive. The red fox-Fiona?-saw me and fired, but Sally didn't put up any resistance against her in doing it." He explained.

Sonic was unsure about it all. It was highly unbelievable that Sally would be working with such beings, he almost smacked Silver upside his head for being an idiot. Silver tended to mistake things for others _a lot,_ so he was skeptical about all of it. He didn't believe him.

Besides, the memory of him pushing Sally to the ground filled his core with guilt, and he swallowed the memory away. Now was not the time.

"Rouge, Knuckles," fro the sound of their names, both Mobians instantly erked up; Rouge looking bored. "Did you see what silver is talking about on your search?"

"I'm afraid not, hon," said Rouge.

"Nope," Knuckles shrugged.

Sonic turned his face back at Silver, not bothering to hide his skeptism this time.

 _Of course you didn't_ , Silver thought in frustration. _You two were busy eating your faces off._

"I swear Sonic, it's the truth!" Silver pleaded, his golden orbs begging Sonic to take his word.

Sonic sighed. "I'll take your word for Scourge and Fiona, but not Sally. We will keep an eye out for the time being." When he turned his back towards Silver, he saw Tails having the same disbelief in his eyes. He checked Bunnie's expression and nearly groaned aloud; she definitely did NOT believe him.

And why would they? Most people alike in this room were close with the princess, and knew that she would never bargain with the enemy for anything. And, so did he. He just needed some reassurance that what he saw was some sort of misunderstanding of his. He felt a gloved hand on his shoulder, and he glanced back.

Blaze stared at him with eyes that showed complete trust and faith, and he smiled ever so slightly.

At least _she_ believed him.

Sonic walked up to Shadow and stopped where his nose barely touched his.

"This isn't over, Shads," came his menacing yet cool voice again, and the room went down another few degrees.

"It never is,"

"We have to save Amy, that's both our top priorities. Save her, then we can kill each other later."

"I agree Faker, Rose must come first at all times."

After a few seconds of silence, Sonic let out his hand. Shadow held down a scoff, and after a few seconds of staring at it like it held the gun that killed Maria, he took it with his own and gave it a shake.

A mutual truce between the rivals was made.


	6. Chapter 6

Amy staggered back to the base, hammer still in hand. Even though she no longer reacted to pain, or any sort of emotion conflicted upon her, she was sure that her hand was bruised from gripping her trademark hammer too hard. A dull ache throbbed her side where Sonic had tackled her. Frustration filtered her system. She was so, so close in acquiring her target, but she stumbled upon the yellow one instead; Tails. Only one thought was hardwired into her brain, and that was hedgehog, priority one.

It didn't take long for Eggman to catch up on her failure, and she endured his melodramatic outburst.

"Useless! I didn't create you to capture Sonic for nothing!" He roared, pacing and twisting his auburn mustache in anger. "Why do I even bother…"

Eggman stopped and took a long look at Amy, and swallowed in anxious discomfort. The blank, alienated face did not belong to the annoying pesk that he once knew. He felt as though those red orbs shone through to the depths of his soul. If he had one.

Eggman cleared his throat and turned around to his desktop computer, and was instantly alarmed by the popup WARNING message that had appeared on the screen. In a flash, Eggman was instantly on alert, and he typed furiously against the keyboard. Failure soon was forgotten as footage of an incoming threat took over the monitor, and Eggman broke into sweat.

"What?!" He screamed, his voice having a slight tremble; from fear or frustration Amy didn't know. "How can this be? How did the retched hedgehog find our location?" Eggman stood up faster than Amy ever saw him move, her ears perking upwards to hear her command.

"One failure after the next, this is getting ridiculous," Eggman spun towards Amy's direction, and she swore she saw actual panic in his eyes behind those tinted glasses. "You under all circumstances will protect me, understood?"

Amy nodded and raised her hammer in a salute for battle. Finally, she will be able to redeem herself and fulfil her duty. Hedgehog, priority one.

Eggman didn't pay attention to her agreement, he knew she would obey. He designed her, after all. As useless as she was, he also knew Sonic can't help himself when it comes to his disgusting friends, and Amy will be a delicious distraction. A cacophony of keys was heard as Eggman began furtively typing again, desperately releasing Eggbots and missiles he had in store, but from past experiences, Eggman knew that it would only buy himself time to escape.

A thousand butterflies swam in Sally's stomach. Her eyes twitched and glanced at every movement and sound heard. She didn't know what was wrong with her. Beforehand she was so confident in doing what she was about to do, but now, just moments before from what is about to be done, she had second thoughts.

She was beginning to crack.

Sally tried to bury her emotions like countless times before, but this reckless behavior, nerve wrecking decisions has her starting to crumble. She tells herself that she is strong, that she is an independent leader who shouldn't be messed around with, but she knew, deep down, that she's wrong. The Sally beforehand was a strong leader and she defeated whatever that came across her.

But now she's starting to realise that she wasn't defeating the demons inside her. She wasn't a leader. She had fallen to Scourge's level, blinded by rage and jealousy that overtook Fiona. She glanced at her so-called foxy companion, and made a silent promise to never judge her again, and to understand her outrageous actions in the past. Fiona was just as broken and scared as she was.

Fiona just never made that step to fight against her darkness and fears.

And neither was Sally, really. Her fists balled at her sides, she felt the sparkle in her crystal eyes shine once more, only in determination. She will make that step. She will fight, overcome this enemy inside her and become that fearless, strong leader she once was.

"You ready for this, princess?" Scourge's croaky voice invaded her retribution. Sally gave a sweet smile back, making him smirk in surprise. She'll keep up this façade until she found a way to save Amy in her apology, and in doing so she will make it seem as though she's warming up to the green monster in front of her.

"Let's get this party started."

The remnants of the last robot scattered against the metal floor, skidding and sputtering electric sparks in the mist of the electronic graveyard. Sonic didn't waste any more time and ran through the never-ending hallways and corridors, body fuelled by anxious adrenaline. He was so close to Amy he could already see her happy smile, glistening jade eyes. He almost forgotten the sterile, crude and drugged Amy Rose that he had in counted not too long ago.

"Still clear, Tails?" Sonic spoke into the small ear piece that connected to his mouth.

"Clear as day, Sonic." Tails' voice responded through the crackling microphone.

"Has Shadow moved?" Sonic's voice was already exasperated, exhausted in dealing with his dark rival.

"Surprisingly, no. He's still in the spare cockpit beside me."

Sonic didn't have to concentrate to hear Shadow's constant fuming. He had instructed everyone but him to surround the base, Shadow being the secondary source of backup if needed. Sonic's reasoning was he didn't want to start too much commotion within the base that would anger Amy, but his real reason was that he wanted to be the one she sees first. Like what his buddy said, it was a surprise that Shadow had complied.

Maybe he was just as nervous as he was.

"Goddammit!" Eggman screeched in panic as he shook the escape pod in a failed attempt to start it. "Why isn't this working? I had it perfectly made; there shouldn't be any malfunctions!"

The sound of a nonchalant whistle caused Eggman to freeze, slowly turning around to find Scourge the Hedgehog twirling a ripped cable around in his left hand. The cable dangled as he brought up with a devilish smirk.

"Looking for this?"

If Eggman weren't as cowardly as he was, he would have stood up to the metre-tall Moebian and faced him off. Instead, he backed away into the shadows in fear, sweat dripping down his face.

"S-Scourge?" he stuttered in disbelief. "I would have thought no less from Sonic, but you?"

Scourge gave a salty chuckle.

"It's a bit odd, ain't it? Fortunately, I have another trick up my sleeve. Meet the future queen of Moebius, the one and only Princess Sally Acorn." He bowed and waved his hand at the upcoming figure, as if he were presenting her in front of millions of honoured guests.

Eggman nearly cackled out loud, he was so on edge that he was about to scream if it weren't from his curious confusion.

"The princess? What on Mobius is going on here?" He demanded.

Sally let out the most mischievous grin she could, her eyes shining in the darkness.

"Unfortunately however," Scourge continued, "we have no time to explain. So where's the pink hairball that you've somehow turned against Blue?"

As if on cue, Amy came in swinging, knocking Scourge aside with a hit of her hammer. Scourge grunted as he hit the ground, holding his pounding head with a sneer.

This time, Eggman did cackle, and whooped in triumph while watching Amy take down his pursuing enemies.

It didn't take long for Scourge to get back up however, and he was already targeting Amy. His smirk was long gone, replaced with a grim line and a murderous gaze. Amy readied her hammer, and just before she took a step, Sonic walked in with a warning shout; but it was too late. Sally had taken hold of her and brought her down with a fly kick, and Amy went down with a thud. She didn't see what had happened to Scourge, but her focus was pointed towards Sally. Recognition stung her consciousness, the same recognition that had hit her with everyone she had contacted so far, but like all the other times, she ignored it and went on with her duty. A biological robot. Hedgehog, priority one. Firstly, she had to deal with the chipmunk.

Sally didn't have much time left. She grunted and struggled against Amy, but she knew she was going to let up soon. Amy began thrashing and kicking, and before she could try reasoning with her, a shrilling beeping drilled into her eardrums, and she fell down with a yelp, covering her eyes. Accompanying the beeping was a flashing red light that took over the whole area. It wasn't long until a female robotic voice declared: "Self-destruction switch activated. Approximately ten minutes till self-destruct."

Sally could practically feel the panic settle among everyone, and she caught a flash of Eggman escaping through the blinding red. She looked across her to see Amy gone, and she had no time to react before a piercing stab of pain erupted up her leg as she let out a cry of agony. Her eyes found the source of the pain to see that Amy had completely crushed her leg with the force of her hammer, the skin beneath her fur already turning a sick purple. Amy went for another swing but was interrupted by a loud gunshot and soon after Amy collapsed to the floor. Ignoring the pain in her leg, Sally crawled towards Amy, worry driving her movements. She heard Sonic yell Amy's name, but was drowned by another blaring beep. Her hand found its way to Amy's shoulder, and with a gentle push she turned Amy on her back.

Amy took a while to respond, but her eyes flickered open and for a second Sally saw the familiar green shine through the red, and that all was needed for her to decide. Sally grabbed Amy and hoisted her over her shoulder, wincing and biting her lip from the sharp pain in her leg. For a split second she gathered her surroundings and saw Fiona reloading her gun, and Sonic managing to get Scourge in a headlock. That's when they made eye contact.

"Sally!" He coughed out. "Help me!"

Without a word, Sally turned her back on him and staggered towards the exit. She heard Scourge curse and wail in betrayed anger, and she didn't have to look back to see Fiona retreating to Scourge's aid.

Sonic can handle them. He's defeated them countless times before.

With the nonstop squeal of the agitating beeps, the extra weight on Sally's side and excruciating pain in her crushed leg, Sally fought through never ending corridors; pushing through Sonic's mutilated opponents that he left behind. Her throat felt hoarse from her deep breathing, every breath feeling like razors down her throat. Her leg buckling underneath her with every step she took. Amy limp as a sack of potatoes, a literal world on her shoulders that overlapped Sally's own despair.

But she will not falter.

"Five minutes till self-destruct." Warned the monotone female voice that blasted from the intercom.

Hearing this surged newfound adrenaline through Sally's entire being, and she lunged over half a broken robot, barely feeling the pound of fresh pain that sprung up her leg and hips as she landed with a jolt. Sally finally saw it; a sliver of hope that shone just before her, the hole that had been bombed opened by what she guessed was one of Tails' missiles created what looked like an entrance to heaven. The afternoon sunset glowed into the desolated airship, the rays reaching out for Sally and Amy, a stark contrast to the blinding red that filtered the inside. Sally felt something she hadn't felt in a long time; hope. Hope that turned into courage, courage that turned into energy which gave her the push she needed to collapse and ultimately throw Amy off the edge.

The sight of static buzzing at the ends of the broken wall blurred and fizzed along with Sally's dissipating vision. It wasn't long before she finally lost consciousness.

The wind flowing through Amy's quills and dress brought some life back into her, her eyes fluttering open to see no other than the ground growing dangerously close at an alarming speed. A strange calming sensation took over Amy. The calmest she had felt since that dreadful day in Station Square Central Park. Although, she most preferably chose this weird, floating calmness over the cunning, emotionless killing-machine that she was only moments ago. A bright glistening caught her attention as her eyes lazily found the source to be her very own bracelet, winking at her while dangling furtively against her wrist in the wind.

She hadn't realised how slow she was falling. Of course she was descending quite quickly, but to her in her own consciousness, she was the slowest thing in the air. She supposed time freezes when you're about to die.

A sudden explosion rocketed behind her. An intense mixture of yellow and red illuminated her back and bounced off her sakura quills, increasing her momentum of downfall. In her fuzzy memory Amy recalled the grand airship announcing its untimely demise, the self-destruction switch had been detonated. It nearly gave Amy whiplash.

She closed her eyes and braced for impact. Only it never came. Instead, she found herself caught, her limbs limp and hanging at either side of her capture's arms. She figured that her blood from her gunshot wound was seeping onto their chest. Now that she thought about it, their chest was overly furry and male.

 _Shadow?_

Very weakly her eyes opened to see that it wasn't who she had expected, and instead it revealed to be Silver who had rescued her. A faint, snaky turquoise glow surrounded both of them, entombing themselves together like a blanket; signalling Amy to drop out of consciousness.

Sonic didn't have to see what lay beyond the crowd to know it held the crumbled form of whom he loved. A part of him was afraid to see his failure. His second failure. He almost laughed out loud at the irony, that the famous Sonic the Hedgehog had failed to save the one he protected for a living. He pushed the others aside, preparing himself of what he was to see.

Sonic fell to his knees… and sobbed.

There before him laid Amy Rose. Honestly he would have preferred the automatic shell that she once inherited. Before him, was an actual shell of what remained of her. There, Silver had gently placed her in a pool of her own blood, and stood back with Blaze in sadness.

Shakily, Sonic reached out and stroked the side of Amy's once glowing face, her smile so bright it lit up a room. Never, after all these years, has Sonic taken the time to absorb in such beauty. An ugly side of him wished he hadn't been so caught up with Sally in the past years so he could have spent more time with this angel. Always he saw Amy Rose as an obsessive fangirl who proclaimed her so-called love to him in stalker-ish ways; now she had to be taken away for him to realise her pure intentions.

If Shadow were to arrive, again he would lay down and take in the abuse he would conflict upon him. Maybe even give him the sweet release of death. Yet, even he didn't deserve that.

Sonic listened in to his friends, rivals and acquaintances let this tragedy sink in. He heard many sobs, a crying Cream who was huddled against Tails. Unlike before, Sonic felt envious of his best friend. How come he got to keep his love and not him?

The anger was so abrupt it nearly knocked him over. He felt a familiar darkness wash over him and consume his being. He knew what was happening and gladly consented to it. He was furious with the unfairness of it all. Angry at himself for not protecting her. Angry at Eggman to sink so lowly that even Scourge wouldn't think to go.

In fact, Sonic needed to release this anger on something. On someone. The darkness that etched his soul spread from his feet upwards, his cyan fur darkening to a navy blue, then darkened even more to now a rich black. It spread up to his stomach like veins, only a huge wave of a black tide coursing through his body. Sonic's mind absorbed this evil sensation, and all morals and rational sense flew out. All he wanted was to maul something. Maul someone.

Something invisible levitated Sonic's quills as if he were Super, and dark tendrils of blackness clouded him. Soon he too started to levitate. Shouts and objections filled Sonic's ears, but he blocked them out, blurring and distorting them.

In a nanosecond, Sonic was gone as if he had chaos controlled away.

Eggman leaned against the tree for support, struggling with his breath while he held his burning throat. The smoky, burnt smell of fumes and electrical circuits clung to the air as an aftermath of the explosion. He just barely escaped while he clung to a Buzzbomber for support during his descent to the earth, which now was shattered across the charred plains like broken glass. Embarrassment developed along with the fading adrenaline. Maybe he should start to lose weight.

As long as he had escaped, as always, he'll be fine. An explosion like that surely destroyed at least one of the pests.

"Eggman."

Eggman suppressed a groan. Of course _he_ survived. That abomination always survived no matter what, and kept on coming back like a cockroach.

"Sonic, I swear I didn't mean to-" he was abruptly cut off as he turned around to see that Sonic was not Sonic. It was him no doubt, but it was like the chaos emeralds had reversed the effect on him as he turned Super, and what was left was a much darker, evil doppelganger. Sonic was slightly floating, only a few feet away, his creepy blank stare bored into Eggman, and what creeped him out more was the absent of pupils in his eyes; which was replaced by nothing but a glowing white. A shiver went down his spine.

"S-Sonic, I…"

This time Eggman was interrupted by Sonic's fist colliding with his face. Blood spurted from both his mouth and nose as he tumbled down the tree trunk. Stars covered his vision as he went into shock. Never has Sonic showed such violence towards anything.

For the first time, Eggman was genuinely scared of Sonic.

"You killed her," was all Eggman heard as more pounding against his face commended, pain exploding in his face like electrical currents travelling through his head. He felt his nose crack, blood ushering down his chin. He started to frail around, trying to block his mutilated face from anymore damage, but it was no use. Sonic was stronger, filled with nothing else than pure vengeance. Eggman thought he was going to die.

A crackling was heard before Sonic eased to a stop. For a moment he stood there silently, listening to the soft buzz from his earpiece. Slowly Sonic slid off of Eggman, and flew away without another word.

Eggman was too scared to move. His whole body shook with nerves and fear. Trembling, Eggman touched his face with a choked sob, tasting his own blood and sputtering it out on the burnt grass. He was so used to being half machine that he had forgotten the fragile side of him, the biological aspect that he still inherits. Pain was a new feeling. Blood was a weird copper-like substance.

He finally understood the pain that he had conflicted on others. He was so used in receiving forgiveness, that he never thought to have occurred hate and consequence.

For a long while, Eggman stayed there contemplating his new onlook on life, and how lucky he had been to have survived.

Sonic just sat there in the waiting room with the majority of his anxious friends. For four antagonising hours, he had to wait with the pleasure of his own thoughts. For four hours, he had come up with about 100 different outcomes of Amy's fate (none of which have happy endings), dealt with his guilt of what he had done to his lifelong enemy, conflicting emotions of how he felt towards this new Sally, and anxious to find Shadow death staring him from across the room. As much as he had hated it, he understood his turmoil. He understood that Shadow has every right to check up on Amy first.

He kept his gaze down low, watching his inpatient foot shaking as a response to his nerves. He had knowledge of Sally being in one of the wards nearby, but was declined to checking up on her. One side of him was angry at her for aiding Scourge in the attempt to assassinate Amy, and the other side, the rational side, knows that the real Sally wouldn't have done that for no reason. In truth, he was scared to confront her in case she had changed into an unfamiliar person that he no longer knew. It was alien to him, probably alien to everybody, to see their beloved Sally break down.

Sonic's ears perked up at the sound of heels clicking against the marble floor and his head shot up to see a human nurse holding a clipboard close to her chest. In the speed of lightning, Sonic was at her side rambling off questions at the same speed.

The nurse was overwhelmed and tried to keep up with him to no avail, then Tails pulled Sonic away from her gently. He knew Tails was trying to help but after hours of bottled up anxiety he was about to explode. The nurse brushed some hair from her face nervously which annoyed Sonic. Couldn't she just hurry up?

"Miss Rose has fully recovered from her gunshot wound. However, she needs a vital amount of rest, so only short visits are allowed before she needs to be left alone for the rest of the day." She said.

A massive amount of relief clouded over Sonic as he released the breath he didn't know he was holding. Amy was alright. She was going to be okay.

Then of course, the anxiety came back, as he was going to have to face her since their little fallout at Station Square Central Park. He didn't even know where to begin or what to say, or even how to apologise of all he's ever done to her. He didn't have a chance to make a decision before Shadow pushed past him and made his way to Amy's room. Dread overtook him and he slumped. The boyfriend, the _rightful_ boyfriend, was there to make everything better.

"Sonic?"

Sonic sighed and faced Tails with a melancholy expression. "Yeah, buddy?"

"Its not all your fault, Sonic," Tails began. "I played my part too. I was the one who…I was…it was me who…" he struggled to finish his sentence, his fingers running through his bangs in a complete nervous breakdown.

Sonic wanted to slap himself. Why was he being so selfish? Tails was the one who poisoned Amy in the first place, he couldn't even imagine what he was going through, the self-hate. Sonic hugged who he considered his younger brother, and squeezed tight in understanding. Soon he felt Tails shudder and pull back after a while, and wiped his face. His expression was blank but his eyes told a million different emotions. Somehow, this gave Sonic the strength he needed to face Amy.

"Maybe you should go talk to Sally." Tails suggested, his voice hinting a slight catch.

"Yeah," Sonic nodded, and silently went to the reception desk to ask for Sally Acorn's location.

Sally has been conscious for a long while now. She wasn't surprised that no one had visited her yet, she understood if neither of her childhood friends would want to see her ever again. Even her best friend, Bunnie. Even her…friend, Sonic.

But she was glad of what she's accomplished. She had realised her mistake before it was too late, before she had to marry Scourge and rule by his side, having to constantly watch her back for Fiona. Watching the world she had helped to create perish under her king's rule…

She shuddered at the thought. Yes, she was happy it didn't come to that, that she had woken up to her senses. It would have been her dream to marry Sonic and make him her king, but there are better and more important things to worry about than to be living in a fairy tale. She just hoped she could have the chance to apologise to Amy, even if she did save her life.

The door creaked open and Sonic cautiously stepped in. Sally's breath caught in her throat. For a minute, both of them stared at one another. Her heart monitor was the only sound in the room, the ominous beeping creating more tension between them. Her broken leg was now protected in a cast that was propped up by a sling which was connected to the ceiling. Painkillers and anaesthetic have done its job, and what now remained of the pain was a dull throb now and then. She couldn't remember how she had escaped, but all she could conjure up was Tails' worried face gazing down her.

Sonic was the one who broke the silence.

"Why?" Was all he whispered. "Why, Sally?"

Sally swallowed her sob. She asks herself that, too.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered back.

Silence again.

Sonic hesitantly made his way to Sally's bed and sat down besides her.

"I just wanted you," she blurted out. "I was so jealous of you not wanting me anymore, I just didn't know how to react." While she said this, she realised how pathetic she sounded. That was not a good enough excuse to try and kill one of your closest friends.

"I know how you feel, Sal," Sonic empathised. "I reacted irrationally when Amy rejected me for the first time in my life. I didn't react as drastic as you, but I understand it."

Sally sat there in shock for the second time. This wasn't how she had imagined it.

"But Sonic, when you got with Fiona and Mina I didn't try to kill them, I reacted like any other jealous person would. Like how you did with Ken and Geoffrey. What I did was way over the line, unacceptable, you can't possibly forgive me. I mean I don't even forgive myself."

Sonic smoothed out her fiery red hair from her eyes gently as if nothing had happened between them.

"All that matters Sal is that you made up for your mistakes. You made the right decision, you stopped yourself. That is the difference between you and Scourge, Fiona, even Eggman. You fought against your jealousy and pain like you always have, and that's what makes me love you." Said Sonic.

Tears swelled at the corners of Sally's eyes, and a sob did escape this time. Sonic gently wiped the tears away, and continued.

"But maybe this is a sign that we need to move on from each other. I will always love you Sal, but right now I need to focus on new people and new experiences, and you should too." Before she could reply, Sonic bent down and lightly kissed her forehead while whispering "Goodbye".

With that, he stood up and left the room while Sally sat there in deafening silence once again.

Shadow nearly collapsed from the sight of Amy. Seeing her in the most fatal position, in hospital with no life in her beautiful face made him sick to his stomach. The gauze that was wrapped around her torso held a terrifying image that Shadow could not bring himself to see. It eerily reminded him too much of another incident that consisted of a gunshot wound, and he shied away from those thoughts.

He almost lost his Rose in the same way he lost Maria. The coincidence was too much to handle.

Very softly Shadow took Amy's hand, and with his spare hand he stroked her pale quills. He listened to her uneven breathing and felt more hatred towards the Faker than he's ever felt before. He swore when his beloved was better, he would beat Sonic's ass to a bloody pulp.

Amy's stirring instantly grabbed his attention as he stroked her face more.

"Rose?"

Amy opened her gorgeous eyes and she looked up at him. His heart flipped the way it always does when she rests those jade orbs upon him. His lips curved up slightly in a half smile that was only meant for her and he scooted closer.

"Are you okay?"

Shadow noticed that Amy didn't smile back like she normally would, which sparked an alarm in his head. Was she in pain or too delirious to know what was happening? He squeezed her hand gently. She pulled away.

His heart picked up and he tried to reach for her again but stopped. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"What's going on?" he asked softly.

Instead of answering, Amy shifted away, wincing slightly at the movement. Hurt stung him, and he grew more anxious to know. He eyed her as she rubbed her face. Was that tears he saw?

"Rose…"

"You can do this Amy," Shadow heard her say underneath her breath and his suspicions rose. Annoyance flickered and he took her arm again, carefully.

"I don't love you Shadow, I never have."

It was like the world opened up underneath him and he fell down in a black void of nothingness. Everything he once had was stripped away in an instant. This shouldn't be real. Couldn't.

"What?" He asked just above a whisper.

"Tails poisoned me to fall in love with you because I couldn't deal with my own heartbreak over Sonic. I'm so sorry Shadow," she begged.

Shadow just sat there, dumbfounded. He felt numb, deprived from all his emotions a second time. He was stupid enough to think that he was accessed to happiness, that he himself could be happy. To… _feel_. This woman before him was everything he could ask for and yet she was a prize on a shelf too high for him to reach. A sham. Fake.

 _Faker_ _…_

"During the time I didn't know what I was doing, after drinking the poison I had no memory of it, as if it never had happened. I truly thought I was in love with you, Shadow. Please try to understand." When he pulled away it was Amy who reached out for him, and Shadow who pulled away again. He felt his face grow cold and stoic, his usual expression, and he stood up.

Nothing good ever lasts in this world. Never will he fall for this trick again.

"I hope Faker gets what he wants, because having you is the worst punishment he could receive." He said numbly.

"Shadow…"

"Goodbye, Amy."

Her soft sob was the last thing he heard before closing the door shut.

Sonic had just arrived from visiting Sally when he stumbled upon Shadow leaving Amy's room. Confused as to why he was leaving in such an angered matter caught him off guard. Seeing Shadow angry was no surprise, but around Amy? When he looked closer, Sonic noticed a singular tear slide down his cheek right when he turned the corner and disappeared.

Had Amy broken out of the poison's trance? Hope filled Sonic, then quickly dissipated for he felt ashamed of thinking that way. Shadow deserved Amy more than him.

Taking a huge breath, Sonic opened Amy's door and entered.

He didn't expect to see her crying.

"Shadow?" Amy said in hope as she lifted her head from her hands to look at Sonic. The hope faded as quickly as it came, and it changed into shock. An odd sense of déjà vu washed over Sonic.

"It's just me, Ames," He said. "How ya holding up?"

Amy's mood suddenly changed as she grew angry and pointed accusingly at Sonic.

"Don't you _dare_ pretend you care about me Sonic!" she yelled, making him flinch. "I'm in hospital because I was _shot_ by Fiona. I was captured by Eggman, again, and turned into this monster that nearly killed Tails. I poisoned myself because you lied to me about the Freedom Fighters needing your help but not mine? And what do I see?"

Sonic remained silent, not meeting her gaze.

"I see you kissing Sally, making out with her!" she continued. "So no, Sonic. I am most definitely not fine."

Sonic took two steps and scooped Amy's face up, pressing his lips against hers. She stiffened for a moment, then relaxed and kissed back. Sonic deepened the kiss, holding her head so fiercely that he thought she'll disappear. It felt different from the other times he's kissed Sally, or any of the other girls. This felt wonderful. He felt alive.

He couldn't get enough of it.

He pressed forward, getting on the bed slightly. Amy complied, laying down; succumbing to his every move. He knew he shouldn't be doing this. He knew she just broke up with Shadow, but that wasn't real love, was it? He needed her just as much as she needed him.

After a few seconds they pulled away, both of them panting slightly. Amy's heart monitor sped up at the same time Sonic's did. For a while, they stared lovingly in each other's eyes. Sonic memorised every sculpture, every detail of her face.

"Why did you do that, I thought you loved Sally," Amy whispered.

"I did. But I've opened my eyes Ames, and now I've fallen for the right one. Words can't explain how sorry I am Amy. I have no right to be with you from everything I've done, but let me explain this." Sonic propped himself up beside her and held her as gently as he could. "The Freedom Fighter thing was real, Knothole was under attack. I still don't know why you weren't asked to assist, but I assure you I wasn't lying. As soon as I was reunited with Sally I was so happy that I scooped her up and…" Sonic trailed off with a sigh. "Don't worry Amy. After the attack, she broke up with me anyway. You have nothing to worry about."

"I know. I don't know why she was with that stupid Scourge and Fiona in the first place, but she saved me in the end. I owe her."

"No you do not," Sonic snapped lightly while holding her closer. "You owe nobody anything."

Amy lowered her ears and looked away sadly. Sonic felt bad for snapping at her defensively, but he'd rather her blame him than herself.

"I owe Shadow," she whispered. "I owe all my friends for worrying them to half to death about what I've done. Especially Tails. I'm such a horrible person."

"Amy…" Sonic lifted her face up to his, determined to prove her wrong. "You've felt the most pain anyone else has ever felt. I'm so proud of you to have been made it this far. You had to deal with an ass such as myself, poison yourself because of said ass, got drugged up by a much bigger ass, got shot and touched death. Don't tell me that's not a good enough reason to share your pain with others. Sometimes, allowing other people to take on your burden helps you overcome whatever obstacle you're facing." Sonic realised the more he said it, the more he believed it was right. "Just next time don't poison yourself, okay?"

Amy let out a half sob, half giggle and rested her head against his shoulder. Automatically, Sonic kissed her head.

"I feel like an idiot,"

"You are,"

Amy hit his chest while he chuckled. Fascinating how much this girl can change his mood in a blink of an eye.

"So…you love me?" Amy hesitantly asked. Sonic had no hesitation.

"Yep,"

A huge smile appeared on Amy's face as she locked him in a bear hug, clearly ignoring her pain. Sonic laughed and embraced her, every trace of anxiety gone. Finally they were together, and nothing could tear him apart from his Amy.

 **Finally done! I haven** **'** **t gotten many reviews as of late, but hopefully you guys will let me know how you thought of my first story. For future stories, please look on my profile to see what stories are pending, and let me know which one you** **'** **d like to see next. So sorry for the late posts, but school is being a pain along with life. You probably noticed my writing skills have improved since the first chapter the posts are that long XD**

 **Thank you for reading, and follow/Favourite me for notifications for future FanFictions!**


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